Circo de los Sueños
by Gone with the frikkkin wind
Summary: Placed in an Alternate Universe, where there are rhymes in every verse, there exists a circus full of dreams, of "sueños" so it seems. Come in, take a seat, and prepare to feel the heat!
1. Prologue: This is our game

_People, animals, all around._  
_Claps and cheers, the only sound._  
_And then I smile, under my ebony hat,_  
_Looking like a Cheshire cat,_  
_My smile suddenly widens,_  
_Just because I know you're frightened._  
_I hear screams,_  
_I sense fear,_  
_Shattered dreams,_  
_I stand near._

_And the spotlight shines,_  
_The stage is mine._  
_The crowd goes wild,_  
_While I just smile._  
_A whip in hands,_  
_I'm preparing my plans._  
_My hat comes off,_  
_My blond hair and a black tuft._  
_Coal bangs covering my honey eyes,_  
_And red lips to their demise._

_I'm wearing my Stiletto heels,_  
_Electricity coursing through my veins,_  
_Like an eel._  
_Here I am, I hold the reigns._  
_This circus is mine,_  
_Just look at the neon sign._

_El Circo de los Sueños,_  
_The Circus of Dreams._  
_Me presento con empeño,_  
_Here I stand, sowing their seams._

_But they're ungrateful,_  
_They feel regretful._  
_Since I'd bought them from Nightmare,_  
_And they'd begged me for their lives to spare._  
_But I had warned them,_  
_That I was a beautiful rose, with a thorny stem._

_They work in my circus now._  
_There's a Flamer,_  
_A WolfWrath tamer,_  
_And a clown._

_There's a magician,_  
_His assistant,_  
_There's a daredevil,_  
_Who's resistant._

_There's two living black holes,_  
_And a hag with various moles._

_I employ a strongman,_  
_Also an acrobat,_  
_And a semi-blind boy that,_  
_Works as a knife thrower,_  
_Though he's better off as a head blower._

_If I were you I'd run away,_  
_But then again, I'm only me,_  
_And I always get my way._  
_You see?_

**_…_**

_Wait! I thought I almost forgot,_  
_One more character,_  
_Let me show you her._

_An olive hood,_  
_Over her head stood._  
_Short, blond hair,_  
_She rides a mare._  
_With a bow and some arrows,_  
_She defends herself._  
_And her eyes always narrow,_  
_Whenever she tells the story,_  
_About meeting Nightmare himself,_  
_And how she triumphed with glory._

_Athelas, Mystifying Athelas._  
_Named after the her favorite flower,_  
_Mysterious, dangerous,_  
_She bares great power._

_So here I present my circus,_  
_Don't be scared, it's just us._

_Savage Rose is my name,_  
_So never bring upon it shame,_  
_Athelas and I share the blame,_  
_We manage the circus…_

…_THIS IS **OUR** GAME!_

* * *

**The prologue to my newest fic! Starring...**

**Sweey... As Athelas! ***crowd goes wild*  
**  
Sword as a WolfWrath Tamer!**

Blade as a Flamer!

Marx as a clown,

Meta Knight as a magician,

Fumu as his assistant!

Escargon as a daredevil!

DeDeDe and Kirby as the two living black holes!

Knuckle Joe as a strongman!

Silica as an acrobat!

Bun as a knife thrower!

And I star as Savage Rose, my friends! *crowd cheers*

**Review~**


	2. 1: Welcome to Circo de los Sueños

Carnival music filled the air along with the sweet essence of candy and popcorn. Fireworks exploded with glee and overlapping conversations reached one's ears. Inside Circo de los Sueños' tent everyone waited for the performance to start, eyes darting around the dark ring in front of them, anxiously wishing for the show to start.

As we move behind the tents we see the whole cast of performers and mistresses as they prepared themselves for the premier performance. Their show today would be seen around the galaxy, either on television, in the papers, or live. Let's review the actors, shall we?

Sword was polishing his weapon with a tattered cloth, leaving it glistening against the moon's beautiful reflection. His weird-looking helmet was sturdy and well-prepared to receive any hits coming for him, his yellow orbs quietly studying his surroundings. His performance was one of the most awaited; since WolfWraths have a fearsome reputation, taming them was quite a spectacle. Hanging limply at his hip, a leather whip waited impatiently to lash out at anything in its way, specially a WolfWrath.

Next to Sword was the renowned Flamer, Jessica Blade. Blade was a pyrokinetic princess of beautiful, wavy, red hair that fell over her shoulders with grace and ruby bangs that brushed to her side. Her eyes were painted hazel, contrasting on her auburn-colored skin. Also humanoid like Sword she was high enough to reach the latter's shoulder and she was sometimes lightly mocked because of her height, she was one of the lowest performers in the cast. But she'd push it aside and remind herself that not everyone can control fire like she can.

Blade's best friend would be Fumu, another humanoid being of short stature. Fumu had mustard-colored skin and hair that shone brightly like her emerald green eyes. Her hair was also wavy, but hers reached up to her waist, almost to the floor. Her glossed pink lips were curved into a smile as the young assistant toyed with a pink lily settled on her hair. Fumu helped Sir Meta Knight in his magic tricks. She sometimes gets too shy to act with him, the reason why because she finds a small attraction to the old, experienced, ex-warrior, but she doesn't share much about it. This girl is one of the most intelligent in the crew.

Fumu's younger brother is Bun, the knife thrower. Bun is a humanoid creature too, but he is most unfortunately blind. He lost his sight when he was under Nightmare's filthy reign and let his yellow and green hair grow enough to cover his eyes and hide away the shame. Despite the loss of his eyesight, he has an advanced sense of hearing. Due to being blind, his other senses advanced to reach the expectations eyesight fulfilled in use. Smell and taste helped him much too, especially when it came to choosing an accurate knife.

Knuckle Joe… Knuckle Joe is the strongman, son of the deceased Star Warrior, Jecra. He inherited the soldier's strength and determination, but also his stubbornness. Though he can lift things twenty times heavier than himself, the young, humanoid boy was as stubborn as a mule. His spiky, loose, blond hair shadowed over his shady eyes, but they were held back by a white headband. A spandex suit of navy blue covered his small, muscular body and his short legs were secured by linen bandages that protected them form any harm.

Rumored around the tents, Silica the acrobat may be Knuckle Joe's love interest. Silica was the most beautiful female in the cast, aside from the two sassy ringleaders. Also short in stature, she bares both skin and hair in ivory colors. Indigo eyes show off their beauty against grey eyelids, matching her ebony gown. She is the daughter of the now dead Star Warrior, Garlude, and the daughter inherited her mother's skill and persistence. The girl is very flexible and very skilled when it comes to showing off with twirls and loops.

Standing on Silica's left was the Circus's own Daredevil, Escargon. Escargon is an anthropomorphic snail that wears just for performances a white helmet with red streaks. Due to his slimy, soft body, stunts cause no harm. But, even if he risks his life for tedious acts, the snail wanted to originally become a professor. Under Nightmare's realm, the snail would often lecture the… less intelligent… and remind them of Nightmare's fury. But under Rose's realm, the snail learned how to keep quiet.

DeDeDe is Escargon's only company. They've both been together as friends even before Nightmare's rule. DeDeDe is an anthropomorphic, gluttonous penguin wearing a thick robe over his slumped shoulders, with a knitted cap along to match. This penguin has the ability to open his mouth and suck things into a void that could be referred as his stomach. DeDeDe eats forty times more than he should, and still feels hungry. When he belonged to Nightmare, DeDeDe was the chef. And there's no denying that DeDeDe's food is delicious.

Akin to DeDeDe, Kirby is also a bottomless pit. Kirby –a small, pink, round, blob-of-a-creature of small height— eats even more than DeDeDe does. But, don't let his cute appearance fool you! The puffball packs quite a punch. By inhaling a creature with a natural or outstanding ability, he possesses the same ability and uses it in battle. Tremendous battle tactic, don't you think?

Kirby has a best friend called Marx. Marx became mentally unsound when he was only a small child and has been neglected by others ever since, except for Kirby. Also round and kind of blobbish, the lavender puffball has perfect balance when standing upon a giant ball. Also, Marx has no arms and somehow developed telekinesis to control the objects around him.

Now that I remember, I told you before that Fumu was Meta knight's assistant. Meta Knight plays the role of a magician in the circus cast. Being the oldest and most experienced member of the group gives him certain privileges that mark him as high in power as the mistresses. He learned spells and chants in many of his great adventures throughout the world and respects the ringleaders greatly, often saying that they share similarities.

…

Overlapping conversations between the performers filled the air as the two ringleaders and their followers exchanged a few words.

"This is the premier performance, Rose. If something goes wrong… we're dead," Athelas reminded, her soft voice coming out of rosy lips under an olive hood that covered her eyes. Athelas was one of the ringleaders of Circo de los Sueños, and was discerned for her mysterious aura. It is said no one knows much of her past, only her subordinate and Rose. Her outfit consists of a long hood that covers her head and most of her body

"I know about the consequences, you don't need to remind me," Rose replied, flicking her wrist nonchalantly, "Besides, are we not prepared to do this?" Rose was Athelas' partner and owner of Circo de los Sueños. The blonde female, bearing a tuxedo-like outfit outlined by fishnet pantyhose and classic stiletto heels, was known as a magician as well as Meta Knight, but Rose wasn't a magician in general. She practiced Black Magic and claimed it was her specialty.

"We obviously are," Athelas answered, voice faltering as an eyebrow rose under her hood.

"See? No harm no foul. We'll get out of this in a snap and count of three," Savage Rose winked and turned around, disciple in tow. She made her way to the center of a circle of performers and with the simple snap of her fingers, every conversation going on shut down dead.

"Good," Athelas mumbled under her breath, "She gets too cocky sometimes." The hooded girl chuckled to herself and smiled at her friend's behavior. Mystifying Athelas walked next to Rose and cleared her throat, preparing herself for an inspiring speech.

Her disciple, Stranger the Wanderer, followed his teacher's way and stopped short behind both females, next to Rose's own apprentice. Rose's apprentice was nothing short of a knight similar to Meta Knight. With a round, charcoal-colored frame and violet-colored armor, the creature was addressed as Charge Knight. The spherical knight had a visor weirdly shaped like an 'X' and often communicates with Rose in French. Also, instead of using a classical sword like other knights, the shadow followed his master's footsteps and learned Black Magic as well. Yet, he admits that magic fails him at moments and uses a small gun as his weapon of choice. Even though Stranger –being a human— was much taller he couldn't help but feel curious about Rose's apprentice. Charge Knight and Savage Rose were names commonly heard in exotic lands. Both appeared out of nothing and offered Athelas her post in the circus, and if Athelas went to the circus… so did Stranger.

" … Let's just hope everything goes alright. I want you guys to do your best out there, everyone awaits a grand performance. Will you give your best?" Athelas asked, eyes darting around the performers. Everyone agreed with an indistinct murmur and a nod, wanting to just get on with it.

"All I heard where mumbles," Rose stated flatly as she crossed her arms across her chest, "Are you or are you _**not **_going to prove you're worthy enough to act in Circo de los Sueños?"

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone said much louder.

Athelas' lips grew into a small smile, "Good. Now get ready… the show's about to start."

_**BREAKLINE **_

The crowd was silent, siting at the edge of their seats, eyes wide and pupils dilated at the sight of a woman entering the circus ring. Lights were out and only a spotlight shone to show the female the way to the center of the ring. She wore a top hat that shadowed over her eyes, matching her outfit, and a black staff in hands. The black staff drawled attention, made out of ebony metal and ending with a crystal rose to help the woman grasp the cane. Her heels made a rhythmic tapping sound alongside her staff banging against the floor. Once reaching the middle of the stage, her red lips curve into a sly smile and her eyes narrow under her hat. Her hips cock to the side and both her hands rest on the floral staff as she took in a deep breath and raised her view, displaying a pair of honey-colored eyes.

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen…. to Circo de los Sueños," she announced, her suave voice cutting through the thick atmosphere.

A round of applause followed her words as she bowed her head in response.

"Now, now. My name is Savage Rose. But I'd prefer just Rose," she winked at the audience. After a sigh she continued, "Welcome, my friends to Circo de los Sueños, where all your dreams come true!" Her hands extended into the air as applause filled everyone's ears.

"As of today, Circo de los Sueños will be performing on Ripple Star, and we'll be waiting… just for you."

Whistles and cheers beat against Rose's eardrums and the girl took that as her cue to call on the second ringmaster.

"Listen here, I'm not the only one holding the reigns for this. Please welcome, the Mystifying Athelas!" And at that a pair of cymbals crashed together and in came running Athelas on top of her ivory mare, bow tied well around her back. A spotlight followed her until she reached to be next to Rose and mounted off her horse with her hood still over her eyes. She was immediately greeted by applause and screams and chants, recognized around the world for her mystery. The hooded blonde did a slight curtsy and patted the mare's neck. The trained horse knew well that his meant to run off into the exit and be greeted by Stranger, who'd guard her in the stall. So the beautiful animal turned around and trotted towards the opening at the end of the tent.

"I hope you enjoy our performance, dear audience," Athelas greeted, flicking some strands of hair away from her covered face.

Hands reached to make noise and applaud, screams and whistles and cheers coursing through the air.

"Sword's on now," Athelas whispered to Rose as the crowd calmed down.

"Charge Knight's already bringing him here, all that's left is the boy's intro," Rose replied through a whisper.

"Alright, then," Athelas breathed in some fresh, cool air and nodded to herself,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you… Sword Knight, the WolfWrath tamer!"

Please review and go to my profile to view the link for my DeviantArt account. My gallery has images of the ringleaders. :) Until next chapter! 


	3. 2: The WolfWrath Tamer

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you… Sword Knight, the WolfWrath tamer!"

And as the words escaped Athelas' lips, the humanoid knight ran until skidding to a stop in the middle of the two ringleaders. Fanfares exploded and confetti was thrown in the air, as the crowd screeched savagely and called out to the small WolfWrath tamer. Sword smiled under his helm and waved at his fans with his gray gloves, calming himself down for the first performance.

"Bring out the Torch!" Savage Rose ordered, a finger pointed towards a corner of the tent. Out of the shadowy corner, a pair of amber eyes suddenly flickered to life and a loud growl shook the tent. Everyone's cheers increased in volume as the furry, red wolf crawled out of its giant cage, with fangs bared for attack and golden jewel glowing proudly in its forehead. Rose and Athelas exchanged a glance before nodding. The hooded blond threw a smoke pill to the floor and in a flash of smoke both ringmasters were gone, leaving just Sword and Torch, the WolfWrath.

Slowly and vigilantly, the WolfWrath started circling around its so-called prey, eyes narrowing in Sword's direction. The canine's tail flicked anxiously from side to side as the giant dog's paws dug the ground with every step. Sword knew how to move. He just didn't know how the WolfWrath would react. His hand lowered ever so gently until feeling the comforting sensation of leather and grasping tightly the whip against his gloved fingers. Now with the whip in hands, the knight stood still and watched the hound from the corner of his visor, trying his best not to move. Seeing its prey standing still, natural instinct took over and claimed Sword Knight was afraid of the WolfWrath's menacing appearance. The wolf's pace quickened and the animal soon fell over Sword, but the knight's trusted whip beat against the air, making a loud echo form within the circus ring.

There was a silence, the audience gasped and their eyes grew in size. The Demon Beast was shocked to see the unmoving thing suddenly lash out at it. With some pants and breaths, the WolfWrath backed down but soon regained two steps forwards. Its eyes narrowed when it saw the threatening weapon held at its front, poised to strike once more. It almost looked like it was analyzing it. Sword swore inwardly and wiped away a trail of sweat under his helmet. _'Sweating already…' _The wolf stood motionless in front of him as he waited for the fiery mongrel to act. The canine growled under gritted teeth, breaking the extreme silence everyone had grasped onto. Sword smirked to himself and stuck out his hand, beckoning the WolfWrath to bring it on.

Whistles and praises followed afterwards, the audience feeling the adrenaline coursing through the atmosphere. The beast's ears pricked up in rage and its eyes tightened even more, teeth displaying once again. The beast crouched and its tail flicked anew. With a step backwards and the jewel shining more intensely, the wolf opened its jaws and a trail of fire escaped the animal's mouth. Sword's golden eyes widened and the boy jumped, somersaulting in midair to land effortlessly on his feet. The whip flailed as it coursed through the air in its owner's hands and landed with a faint _thud_ on the ground, still held by Sword Knight. The tamer recomposed his posture and his eyes narrowed in the direction of the WolfWrath, who breathed in more oxygen to attack once more.

Sword thrust the whip backwards and cracked it hard against the dog-like creature's back, making it howl in pain and stagger back. Torch closed his eyes in ire; fury and anger poured into the beast's heart and Torch soon found himself lunging on the tamer, claws out and aimed for Sword. Shocked by the wolf's sudden behavior Sword was trampled under the WolfWrath's large body, as Torch raised a paw to strike against his trainer's chest. The knight took out his golden blade and held it defensively against the canine's ribs, soft enough to not hurt Torch, but strong enough to poke the animal and let it know it can cause harm. It was tempting to just scratch the boy clean out, but Torch recomposed his character and snarled under his breath. Heaving what could be referred to a sigh, the wolf's ears lowered to its skull and Torch took a set of steps back, letting Sword rise awkwardly from the ground and dust himself off. The knight swung his golden sword at Torch, making the animal dodge and jump to the right. Repeating the motion and the WolfWrath jumping instead towards the left side, the tamer turned around and to his surprise, his sword clanged against the hound's claws as they acted like a shield. The paw dropped to the ground, crushing the blade under its sharp claws. The wolf looked like it grinned at Sword, savoring the other's rage.

The pooch's ears twitched in anxiousness, already the animal wanted to stop fighting. _To end this…_

Sword fought to retrieve his weapon from under the paw, teeth clenched and sweat prickling down his forehead. Finding no result, the humanoid stepped back and grasped the whip that fell to the floor upon impact with the wolf. The whip flew at the WolfWrath, hitting its forehead and making Torch screech in agony. Its ears stuck once more to its skull and the canine whined from the sting, claws digging into the ground as if he had tightened his fists.

"Melodramatic," Sword retorted, swinging the whip backwards once more. The wolf's ears pricked up once more and its eyes snapped open. Swiftly the creature jumped over the small knight, landing behind him. The whip was thrust frontwards but hit the sandy ring's floor, avoiding its original target. Mentally sighing, Sword turned around and immediately dodged a set of sharp claws that were aimed for his back by jumping to the side like the wolf had done earlier. His eyes widened like platters as the wolf prepared himself to spew fireballs out of its mouth, aiming each for his helmeted head. Jumping and dodging and evading the fiery projectiles, the knight didn't notice the wolf was pushing him closer towards the audience, and if someone from the audience got hurt… Savage Rose would make you feel the pain twice as hard.

The wolf took a stance and breathed in an enormous amount of oxygen, the jewel on its forehead shining intensely. Torch's head rose dramatically and soon enough, fire erupted from the canine's mouth, forming a straight line up to two meters long, reaching the knight. Sword felt immense heat well up in his body and couldn't jump backwards anymore or else the audience would panic. Eyes desperately darting around the ring he caught sight of Stranger's silhouette under the tent's shadows, as the mysterious man aimed a dark-colored arrow to Torch. The armor-clad boy breathed in some air to calm down and proceeded to lash out at the WolfWrath with anything his hand could grasp, trying his best to keep the dog still. Stranger closed his right eye to get a better view of his target; the arrow was pointed for the middle of the six spikes on the animal's back. This arrow –filled with some type of knock-out poison— would tranquilize the rebel wolf just long enough for Sword's performance to end and save some time.

"Just as Athelas ordered," he muttered under his breath, letting go of the arrow with a flick of his wrist. With a slight hiss, the arrow flew away, heading towards the flaming hound. In a matter of seconds Torch staggered slightly, head nodding off and licking his lips, cherishing the taste of sugary sleep. Sword lashed the whip once again towards the WolfWrath, hitting it and making it fall limply to the ground, taking deep, sleepy pants.

Sword heaved for breath, he was literally on fire. Flames flickered all around the ring, and he had flames dancing around his body and skin. His armor was cracked and broken. His weapons ragged and ripped. He was sweating like a pig and was scratched by Torch, earning a really deep gash on his arm. In conclusion, he felt like crap. But the audience took no notice and cheered loudly at the performer's actions, somehow altered by Stranger. Speaking of which, was emerging from the shadows to exit the ring to appear to his master and report his actions.

Savage Rose rushed into the ring to conclude Sword's performance and introduce the next after saying the actors needed a break to prepare and review their acts. It was a wonder how the woman could run in such high heels. She passed Stranger and suddenly skidded to stop, turning around to tell the Wanderer something.

"Thanks for the help; if not for you we would've lost our first performance _**and**_our actors. Athelas said she wanted to speak to you, by the way. She's in Meta Knight's trailer," and with that said, the blonde rushed again to the entrance, along with a small swarm of Waddle Dees that would help cure Sword and Torch. Stranger had barely time to nod his answer, but he shrugged to himself and kept on walking to the knight's trailer while hearing the carnival music play in the background.

…

"Excellent use of the Darting Arrow, Stranger... I might say I'm proud of you," Athelas congratulated, while pouring a cup of tea for her apprentice. Stranger's eyes uncharacteristically flickered with pride, but under his dark hood nothing could be seen. Athelas pushed a cup towards Stranger and took a seat in front of him. The Wanderer accepted the cup and held the welcoming beverage close to his face, to feel the warmth. The hooded female smiled to herself and rose the cup to the air, swirly mist erupting from the hot drink.

"To Circo de los Sueños."

"To Circo de los Sueños," Stranger answered, cup high like Athelas' own.

Now both were in her luxurious trailer, sipping tea contently after a wonderful performance. Sword was praised and cheered by many of the cast, and the Waddle Dees reported he wasn't severely hurt, much to Rose's content. Sword thanked Stranger personally before the Wanderer got to reach his mistress in the masked knight's trailer, and the mysterious human answered with another thanks, for acknowledging the fact that Stranger had helped. Being hidden in the dark world of the shadows was Stranger's hobby, being recognized was almost like a compliment to him.

Torch, though, ended up more wounded than expected. He broke a paw and has a weird inflammation on his lungs because of the overuse of high-heated fire. He whines about a headache caused by the whip when it hit his brow and his behavior around Sword changed drastically. The trainer, when recuperated, rushed to see how the WolfWrath was doing. But the canine refused being cared for by the knight and know is under the watch of Charge Knight, on Savage Rose's orders.

"What has you thinking so hard?" Athelas asked her companion, making Stranger snap out of his train of thought.

"Oh, uh… nothing, the… erm, Torch. Torch has me worried," Stranger stammered in a low breath, sipping a bit of his tea. His head lowered and strands of brown hair dance out of the dark hood, the man's eyes focused on the cup of tea.

"He'll get better."

There was a pause, and an awkward silence.

"I'm talking about his behavior."

Athelas arched and eyebrow at the man in front of her, "He's known for being overdramatic. Besides, I'm not surprised if he gets hurt every time he uses fire with his attacks."

"I know. But—"

"For a WolfWrath who hasn't used fire many times before in his life… he's doing pretty good."

"…What if someone gets hurt?"

"Why do you worry?"

"Because this circus is our responsibility."

Athelas almost scoffed, "It's _**Rose's **_and _**my**_ responsibility. You're here because you wanted to keep on as my follower."

"Doesn't mean I don't care about the circus," Stranger remarked, taking in a deep breath.

"And that also doesn't mean I don't know that. You're part of the family now; you get along well with almost everybody."

"Almost."

"Don't bring that up now, _**please**_," Athelas let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing one of her temples. She let her hood fall down to show short, blond hair reaching just above her shoulders and maroon eyes closed shut in concentration.

"Well then, if that was all—"

"— Don't leave just yet. Blade will be performing any minute now and I want someone to escort me back to the tent."

Stranger set down the empty cup of tea on the table, "Fine then, ready when you are."

* * *

Savage Rose flipped her hair back and cleared her throat, waiting for Blade to finish something she was doing behind the tent, as the audience took their time to go buy food and go to the bathroom.

"Done, let's go. Get the show started!" Blade suddenly said, popping out from behind a tent flap.

"Good, Flamer. Show 'em what you got!" Rose replied, making her way to the ring's entrance. Blade winked in response and Rose smiled back, turning her head to look at the vast audience. She sighed and continued walking, staff in hand, until reaching the exact center of the ring as she had done before.

"I see you enjoyed our previous performance," she commented, listening to some of the overlapping conversations held within the crowd. Everyone slowly settled down as the ringleader tapped her heeled foot impatiently, her hands resting on the metal and crystal staff.

Some minutes later, complete silence reigned and Rose smiled contently, "If you liked Torch's fire. You'll love Blade's. Give a hand for Jessica Blade… the Flamer."

...

**Please review and tell me what you thought of Sword's performance and what you'd expect for Blade's.**

**Jessica Blade is a partially fan-made character, a half belongs to HAL Laboratories/Nintendo and another half belongs to me.  
[www. fanfiction. net/game/kirby/s/6604078/1/ Behind_This_Cold_Armor] - Go to that link and read a story involving the past of Sword and Blade Knight. Before they met Meta Knight they had normal lives... I think.**

**For your information, in the original Japanese anime, Blade is voiced by a female. Making _her_ a female.**

**~Review!**


	4. 3: The Flamer

Rose smiled contently, "If you liked Torch's fire. You'll love Blade's. Give a hand for Jessica Blade… the Flamer."

Blade exhaled some air and ran up to the center of the ring doing various cartwheels before landing next to Savage Rose. A bright spotlight marked her appearance, almost blinding the girl, but Jessica shook it off while doing a pose. She bowed her head lightly and stood tall once more, smiling at the audience and waving at those who called her name. Rose's eyes shifted from the audience to Blade and Blade's eyes moved to Rose's, they met eyes and nodded their approval. Rose did a curtsy and banged her staff against the floor, disappearing with a puff of scarlet fog. Blade looked back at the audience and prepared herself for the show. She cleared her throat and a drumroll came from the tent's shadows. With a last smile, she winked at the crowd before doing a backflip, her hands flickering on and off with fire.

When she landed, she heard the crowd cheer and applause, and was determined to continue. Another drumroll could be heard and as the finishing sound of clashing cymbals erupted from the hidden band, all the lights turned off. The crowd gasped in shock and leaned in forward to see better, sitting at the edge of their seats already. Jessica formed a small flame on her left hand and with that small bit of light she sped off and started circling the ring, where some long candles had been placed for her show. She ran near them in a counter-clockwise pattern with her hand in flames, turning them on one by one. From the bleachers, the crowd could see a flame flicker on and gasped at the fact. Then came another, then another, and then another… until the circus ring was lighted by them. With the speeding wind, the flames that sat upon the candles danced wildly from side to side in a beautiful motion. The audience stared in wonder as Blade did a curtsy and stood in the center of the partially lit ring.

The spectators began whistling, yelling various words at the flaming girl. So many people were talking at once, it sounded as if everyone was mumbling in agreement. Blade raised a brow and teased the crowd by crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently. Once the people in the stands noticed her mock impatience, they settled down so she could continue with her blazing act. Jessica giggled and gave a wink, saluting everyone with her right hand. Suddenly her hand flamed up and she quickly started doodling in the air.

Believe it or not, Blade was a great artist! She first drew a rose, working the magic of light against her invisible canvas. She had to draw quickly, so the mark of light the flames left would be noticed and the squiggles would take form. After the rose dispersed into the air, she worked on making the head of a WolfWrath. The crowd squealed in delight at the spectacle, remembering the breath-taking performance by the WolfWrath Tamer. She then kept drawing and drawing and creating fiery masterpieces. Before drawing another figure, Blade had to wait for the previous one to go away with the wind, often having to entertain the crowd by juggling balls of fire until the drawing would fade.

Now juggling seven fireballs, Jessica formed an eighth and threw in the air so it accompany the others. The pyrokinetic shuffled the fire here and there, making it dance in the air and form shapes while juggling several balls of fire in one hand. The crowd went crazy at her skill and clapped as she juggled higher. Jessica's eyes, however, were fixed on her act. Should she discard anything that could be called a mistake, the tent would burn down, along with the circus' reputation. So she kept gazing at the hypnotizing fire while she managed it, and couldn't help but smile at the baffled looks the crowd of various creatures wore. Yet another drumroll sounded and she stopped juggling, letting the projectiles each land in her hand.

_One fireball_… and the cymbals clash.

_Two fireballs_… and a there was a guitar riff.

_Three fireballs_… and the grave sound of a drum filled the air.

_Four_… and the soft jingle of bells resounded.

_Five_… and the violins made a sound.

_Six_… and trumpets gave a whistle.

_Seven_… and the keys of a piano echoed through the tent.

_Eight_… and flutes collided to produce a sweet symphony.

_Nine_… and there was a silence.

_Ten fireballs_… and every instrument that had played before formed a beautiful melody altogether. When all the projectiles were in her grasp, she absorbed them and made them disappear like magic. The audience gave an '_Ooohh!_' as their eyes adjusted to the dark once more after having turned off some of the lighting inside the tent. A fanfare filled the air and Jessica bowed with closed eyes, her ruby hair slipping off her shoulders. She cleared her throat and stood upright with her hands on her hips.

"Ladies and gents!" she yelled to the stands, waiting for the crowd's mutters to die down, "I'm in need of volunteers! I'm in need… of believers!" Everyone started yelling names and raising their hands in an almost savagely way. Blade's eyes widened and she managed to mouth the word _'_whoa_' _under her breath. She chuckled nervously and walked to a nearby family consisting of a mother and triplets. They were humanoid also, but their skin was a light lilac shade. All of them had dark brown eyes that stared curiously at the performer as she neared them. Jessica stuck out her hand to the mother, who shook it shyly.

"Can I use your children as parts of the show, Miss?" She asked while signaling the three lookalikes, one a female and the other two, young, little males. The woman smiled and nodded, ushering the three kids to stand up. Blade chuckled under her breath and helped each jump the stands, taking them all under her shoulders and walking them to the center of the ring. Now with three young helpers, Blade needed an adult one. One who wasn't afraid of fire and had the guts to act in a circus ring. She surveyed the sea of people and saw a tall, human man of about twenty years of age wearing some dark-tinted glasses next to a very pretty woman of about the same age. She told the triplets to stay where they were and sped off to the other part of the ring. She jumped through the bars that separated the stage from the people and landed next to the pair of humans. They should be strong enough to handle what she had in mind…

"Hello!" she greeted.

"Hi," the woman answered with a smile.

"Hey," the man beside her replied, smiling also.

"Sis, you wouldn't mind if I use this fellow for my act, would you?" Jessica asked the female with a wink. The lady laughed and shook her head, looking at the one beside her. The man stood up and walked next to Blade, feeling awkward by his height compared to hers. Blade strolled closer to the woman and whispered something in her ear, making the other blush.

"No, we're just friends!" The lady answered with a nonchalant flick of her wrist.

"That's good, that's good!" With that, Blade bid her goodbye and jumped off the seat next to the lady. She veered to human into the ring, where he got introduced to the triplets.

"Now, with the help of Molly, Mike, and Mitchell," she said to the crowd, signaling each triplet, "I'll give Bruno a _giant_ surprise." Bruno, the human, waved his greetings to the people watching the show.

Now, Molly looked like the eldest. Her skin was, as mentioned before, light lilac as well as her hair, which was tied up in a curl that reached half her back. For today she wore an orange blouse that went well with her yellow, sesame-shaped feet and her dark brown eyes almost glittered with excitement. Next to her stood Mike, colored exactly like his siblings. His messy tuft of purple hair covered his eyes and he occasionally had to blow them away, earning giggles from Blade. He had on a brown coat that served well under the air-conditioned tent. Beside him, Mitchell observed the many people sitting before him. Lilac-colored and brown-eyed also, the boy wore a black coat nearly identical to his brother's.

Bruno was tall, _very_ tall if compared to Blade. He had on his dark glasses on, which were unnecessary since he was in a tent that was partially lit by flames, and his buzz-cut, black hair contrasted greatly on his pale skin. He had on a normal pair of jeans and a red shirt, along with some scarlet shoes that showed a large white puma. Blade found the thing curious but shrugged it off, seeing as all humans act different.

Blade whistled and called in some Waddle Dees, who rushed to Bruno's side. You could hear the audience laugh at the silly, little puffs running around the ring. In their stubby hands there was a slick, white coat long enough to cover Bruno's entire body. The human gave Blade a weird glance, but Jessica ignored it with a sly smile across her lips.

"You need to put this on, Bruno. It's for your own good," Blade reassured, as the human started to gulp nervously. Mitchel, Mike, and Molly stared curiously at the weird-looking human, scratching their heads and pondering about what would they do for the show. Blade was a pyrokinetic so she'd use fire.

...But on who?

"You people out there in the stands better get ready!" Blade suddenly popped out of nowhere, startling the three siblings. The Waddle Dees had disappeared into the shadows of the tents, and Bruno was walking behind Blade and standing in an 'X' that was painted on the floor. He seemed to be sweating, even under the cold chill of the air conditioner, and he fumbled with the top buttons of the coat. The brothers exchanged glances and shrugged, walking next to the performer to see if she needed them. The red-haired pyro looked behind her shoulder and smiled at them, gesturing them to stand closer. With the helpers within reach, she continued talking to the crowd.

"Bruno's gonna help me light up the show," Jessica grinned wolfishly and turned to Bruno, who had wide eyed eyes under those dark glasses. The crowd whistled in agreement and gave cheers. Blade came up to the human and whispered something, making him nod as an answer. She then turned to the trio of siblings and whispered the same thing. The children smiled and nodded also, ready for what was coming to them. With the snap of her fingers, fire consumed Blade's hand and the crowd screeched hysterically. The humanoid walked closer to Bruno and slowly took out her flaming hand for him to shake. Bruno gulped and stuck out his hand, soon feeling the fire's warmth envelop him.

In the background, the violins started playing a gorgeous melody as Bruno observed the fire lick his body. His turned his hand and watched the orange flames dance across his pale skin in rhythm with the music. The crowd gasped as well as the triplets onstage, but Blade remained focused and tried her best to not hurt Bruno in the process. In a matter of minutes, accompanied by the relaxing notes of the violins, Bruno was completely engulfed in fire. Everyone was awe-struck at the sight of the swaying flames topping Bruno. Then, the triplets came closer and did their part. Blade handed each a bit of fire that formed on her hand. Molly was the first to take hold of the ball of seemingly harmless fire, then Mike, and lastly Mitchel. Their eyes glittered while they played with the balls of fire and laughed. Blade ordered them to run around the ring's edge and show off the trick, to which the triplets happily obliged. She hauled Bruno off the 'X' and with his hand in hers they waved at the audience as Savage Rose emerged from the shadows along with Charge Knight.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Jessica Blade the Flamer!" the blond announced with her hands in the air. Charge Knight rushed to Jessica's sighed and helped her extinguish the fire from the unscathed Bruno, who later bid his farewell and took a picture with the performer before leaving with his female friend. The spectators yelled their praises and clapped as hard as their hands permitted, while a single spotlight shown on an exhausted pyromaniac.

…

"Athelas!" Stranger yelled as he caught up to his master. The hooded blond gave a look over her shoulder and smirked at the Wanderer, who was ducking and dodging all the Waddle Dees that dashed from the tent to Rose's trailer. How does she brainwash them into following her orders?

"You'll have to wait out the traffic jam," Athelas replied, fixing her fingerless gloves. She heard Stranger groan and saw from the corner of her eyes how he comically crossed his arms and exhaled angrily, eyeing the scarlet puffballs with anger. She chuckled and picked up her bow, slinging it over her shoulder. With just a few steps she stood across Stranger, only divided by the endless river of Waddle Dees running about. Stranger held out his hand for her to hold onto and pulled her out of the Waddle Dees. She nodded her thanks and let go if his hand to reach one of her arrows. Stranger raised a questioning eyebrow and placed his hands on his hips.

"What're you gonna do?" his silky voice asked, resounding against the thumping footsteps of the stampede.

"See what she's up to, that's all," Athelas answered with a hum, grabbing her bow. Her pink lips curled into a small smile, waiting to see Rose's face when she burst into her trailer. She started to step forwards, but was topped by Stranger's hand pulling her own. She looked down at their hands and then at Stranger, who merely looked at the Waddle Dees that were entering Rose's trailer.

"You'll have to wait out the traffic jam," he repeated. Athelas sighed, jerked her hand away, and followed his gaze towards the now-slowing-down group of Waddle Dees. After a few minutes, they stopped their walking and evacuated the ringleader's trailer. Athelas took this as her cue to enter and busted in with Stranger, only to be met with an angry Charge Knight, whose eyes under the X-shaped visor were narrowed in their direction. The puffball had his trademark gun aimed at the two intruders and his torn cape covered his body.

"Whoa, buddy," Athelas muttered under her breath with her arms in front of her face. Stranger pulled her closer and glared back, reaching for one of his daggers.

But when Charge saw it was just Athelas who busted in, he relaxed and regained his composure, sliding the pistol back in its cover and releasing his cape, which fell to the surface of the counter he was standing on.

He bowed as low as he could and said, "My apologies, _mademoiselle_. I am merely watching over my mistress."

Athelas looked up to see Stranger's hooded face and pulled her hand out of his grasp, something she'd done many times today. She pushed him away and walked past the bowing Charge Knight, nodding her answer before opening a door that would take her to Rose's dressing room. The sphere-shaped creature rose and followed Athelas with his gaze, sensing Stranger tense up. He waited for the human to cross the door to speak.

"_Mon __ami_, you'd best leave her to defend herself, she doesn't like being the damsel in distress," Charge Knight whispered. His white orbs fell back on Stranger, who suppressed a sigh and plopped down on one of the fuzzy, velvet chairs nearby. He crossed his arms over his head, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips into a thin frown. There was a silence, in which Charge awaited an answer coming from the mysterious Wanderer. Getting anxious because of the creature's stare, Stranger decided to reply. He opened an eye, sucked his teeth, and inhaled some air, the faint smell of perfume entering his nose.

"…I know," and with those two words he decided not to speak again.

**I'm soooo sorry for not updating! Curse you laziness! DX Anyway, review and tell me whatcha think. Many thanks to Jadedragonknight and Sweey for telling me to publish this suckah! **


	5. 4: Purple Pursuit

"You know," Athelas started, plopping down on one of the beanbag chairs inside Rose's dressing room. "Your pet knight almost had me killed."

"Yeah, wel― wait. What?" Rose popped out of her giant closet, a top hat resting on her head. Mystifying Athelas suppressed a laugh and nodded once.

"We entered your trailer and he had his revolver pointed at us," Athelas replied, fiddling with her gloves.

"He did?"

"Yeah, Stranger went all defensive on him."

"Oh gosh, Athelas... I'm really sorry. I ordered him to stand watch… 'cuz, you know."

Athelas sighed and crossed a leg over the other, "The fan mobs?"

"Yep, last time I left my trailer open, a bunch of little girls broke in and pilfered my makeup," Rose replied with a smile, taking off the top hat and placing it on a nearby stool. Athelas scoffed, remembering Rose's face that one night. It was a very busy day, and it was the third anniversary celebration. Everyone was out and about, acting and performing and singing and dancing. When it was time to go back to the trailers, Rose found a group of six-year-olds touching her stuff. Charge Knight was enraged, and had to control his anger because the pilferers were children. From that day on, a huge group of Waddle Dees watches out for infiltrators, which explains the overflowing river of red creampuffs earlier.

There was a silence as Rose entered her closet again, fumbling through the many outfits.

"Well, when will you be done? The crowd awaits," Athelas said as she gestured towards the door of the room.

"You're a ringleader too, hon."

"Yeah… but they _love_ you. Besides," Athelas crossed her hands over her head and sighed contently, "I don't feel like it."

Savage Rose smirked and passed the hooded girl, opening her boudoir's door.

"Marx is next, do me favor and go take him out of his trailer with Stranger. And don't even _**think**_ on calling him purple. He hates that." Rose was about to leave when Athelas voice rang in her ears.

"Why?"

Rose looked over her shoulders with a sudden serious expression, "He whacks out."

* * *

"Come… on!" Athelas said as she yanked on Marx's hat. The purple blob-of-a-creature shook his head and made the hat slip away from the hooded woman's grasp. But Athelas gritted her teeth and grabbed one of the hat's ends again.

"I don't want to, Misses Wanderer! I wanna play around," Marx replied with a chirpy voice equal to that of a child. Athelas had been trying to pull the clown out of his trailer for about an hour now, and the thing didn't wish to perform tonight.

Marx was small and very hyper at moments, so much he sometimes had to be locked away. He wore his precious jester hat, which he says reminds him of when he was once sane. There are times when the blob acts normal and sits down to interact with the other performers, but today he wasn't in the mood. He'd rarely be seen with people, in exception of Kirby and Bun. They could be called his best friends out of the whole cast and share their time with him, but still the jester preferred to be alone.

"Come on, Marx. We need to get you to the ring, it's your turn to perform," Athelas pleaded, lowering to the ground to pet Marx's head. The clown closed his eyes and seemed to purr contently. Taking this as her chance, Athelas suddenly grasp the puffball's head and lifted him from the ground. With a crooked smile she chucked him under her shoulder and turned on her heel to leave. Marx started whining and trying to jump out of her grasp, to no avail since Athelas was determined to go on with the show.

When all of a sudden he slipped out… Athelas kept walking a few feet farther until she noticed the clown had fallen out of her grip. Her eyes widened and she immediately panicked and turned around. Running away from her was Marx the clown as he giggled maniacally and gave short jumps of victory. Athelas growled under her breath and made a ball with her fists, her eyes narrowing under her hood.

"**You're dead meat, **_**purple**_** blob**!"

At those words, Marx screeched to a halt and turned sharply on his heel. His once innocent-looking eyes were starting to glaze over and were darkening into a red hue, making Athelas slowly release her stiff stance and stare weirdly at the creature. The violet puffball suddenly leaped into the air and a pair of golden-trimmed wings materialized at his back. His eyes finished morphing and were two dots of scarlet that stared in new-found hatred at the Female Wanderer. And _now_ Athelas felt sorry for saying what she'd said. Suppressing the urge to facepalm, the hooded girl threw herself to the ground just before Marx could injure her with a shard of one of the many crystals in his multi-colored wings. The mad creature then gritted his teeth and decided to ram into the human, making her feel what he was really capable of. He swiftly shot at her with the clawed tip of his wings extended forwards. But Athelas simply rolled away and jumped on her feet, springing to a race. Marx glared and decided to follow her around, enjoying the fact that she ran away scared from him. To slow the girl down, he threw an amount of shards at her, making her dodge and duck randomly to not get cut. The clown drew a bitter smile on his lips and his small fangs glistened in the lights that shown over them behind the stage. Athelas' heart rate sped up like a racing car, and her hands started getting shaky. In a small moment of uncertainty, she stopped dodging and just then, a giant shard cut her arm and left a deep, clean wound. Athelas' eyes widened and she let out a small gasp as the fresh blood seeped out. Her eyes darted angrily for Marx and caught him laughing his ridiculous, little behind in midair as he taunted her.

This was, by far, the worst situation she could find herself in. She was cornered by an insane creature that hates her guts and has _very _sharp wingtips to his advantage, her bow and quiver of arrows were left on Rose's boudoir and none of her accomplices were in sight. The hooded blond looked around for a possible way of escape, to notice she was surrounded by various, empty trailers. So her gaze lowered and dampened strands of honey-colored hair fell off the hood. When Marx noticed the human hesitate in acting, he took his chance and spread his wings as far out as possible, but as he was about to use the wind, a firm hand grabbed his foot and yanked him down.

Athelas looked up from the floor to see Stranger struggling to fold Marx's wings. The Wanderer had climbed on top of a trailer and hauled the jester to the ground with his weight. A relieved sigh made its way out of her lips and she started inspecting her injury as she approached them. Meanwhile, Stranger and Marx were fighting over power, and it seemed as though Stranger was starting to lose.

"Let me go, **I WILL DESTROY YOU**!" Marx screamed in his high-pitched voice. Stranger grunted at the noise and shut his eyes after his head started throbbing from the sudden pain. Marx kept thrashing in the man's strong grasp, but once Stranger felt Marx trying to wiggle away, he squeezed the puff out of all the air it had left, making it heave and stop kicking.

"Not so strong now, are ya?" The hooded Wanderer asked as he reopened his eyes. Marx glared daggers at the human who had him held like a toy, soon he'd escape and Stranger would know what was coming for him. But the man paid no mind to him; he was more interested in the woman Marx had injured earlier. The clown knew those two held a sort of relationship, if he didn't know any better he'd say they were kin. But that was a matter for later, right now escaping was the priority. So the jester did the first thing that came to mind…

_Bite Stranger._

And in a few seconds the whole ground shook as the Wanderer gave the clown a whole dictionary full of very… colorful… words.

* * *

"What the hell is going on here?" Savage Rose asked to one of the Waddle Dees as she passed through one of the circus tent's flaps. Music had started earlier than planned and the crowd was cheering and laughing like crazy, and the ringleader hadn't even announced anything yet! The Waddle Dee beside Athelas squealed in a melody that resembled the words '_I dunno' _and followed her throughout the millions of cables and junk backstage. When the two reached the shadows that fell behind the bleachers filled with spectators, their eyes grew wide in both shock and worry.

Marx was in his second form and running around the ring while laughing insanely as Athelas and Stranger were hunting him down, each on their own horse.

"Oh God," Rose mumbled under her breath and then she signaled the Waddle Dee to search for Charge Knight. The scarlet puff gave a nod and sped away to contact the magician/knight. In the meantime, Rose kept following the horses with her eyes while she stepped onto the edge of the stage, careful not to intervene with the wild chase. The crowd had gone even crazier at the sight of the blonde mistress and people started whistling and clapping even harder. Rose sighed and scanned the ring to see what was going on.

Athelas held Marx near her face and stood in the exact middle of the ring, while her white horse awaited its orders. Marx had his scarlet eyes crossed as he stared at the dagger in Athelas' hand, pointed at his forehead, while Stranger― sitting on his Blue Roan― knocked an arrow in his bow and aimed it at the jester. But within seconds, the violet puff was in the air and giggling maniacally once more. Mystifying Athelas groaned and sheathed the dagger, jumping on her ivory mare to run behind Marx. Stranger kicked his horse's behind and they both sped off after the entertainer to make sure he didn't hurt the crowd.

The orchestra played an upbeat tune that connected perfectly with the act, and did so out of desperation, since the trio had burst into the tent and started chasing each other around. Right now, the violins were a flurry of notes and the trumpets blew as hard and quickly as possible. The cymbals clashed abruptly every now and then, but that was the Dee's fault… it looked a bit disoriented. The _maestro_ was waving his pointer frantically, keeping up with the performance as his ebony ovals frantically followed the threesome around the stage.

"At least the band is playing along," Charge Knight's unmistakable voice said next to Rose, who simply narrowed her caramel eyes and nodded. She'd need to figure out a way to make the "performance" work, because this wild goose chase wasn't exactly what the ringleader had in mind. She knew Charge Knight awaited commands next to her, but she still had thoughts racking in her mind.

"_Sigue moi_," Rose muttered as she signaled towards the center of the ring. Charge Knight gave a nod and did was he was told: follow her. Rose made her staff appear out of thin air and soon after, she banged it on the ground and immediately appeared before the large crowd. At her side, Charge stood with darting ivory eyes, searching for the _chased_ and the _chasers_. Once his eyes met with the soaring figure of Marx, he locked target and slid his gun out of the case.

Marx was flying in different patterns and laughing all the while, his eyes closed as a weirdly-content smile became plastered on his lips. Below him were the Wanderers, their gazes shifting towards the ringleader just a few feet away. Rose jerked her head over to where she stood and both riders exchanged a look before trotting up next to her. When Marx noticed the absence of two pairs of hateful eyes, his own scarlet orbs flickered open and he saw the humans exchanging some words below. His smile broadened and he lowered himself just enough to be a few feet above them.

"Hey, what's wrong? Afraid I'm too _**purple**_ for ya…?" Marx mocked from the air. Athelas cringed as Rose's eyes narrowed in her direction and she yanked the reins on her horse, making it back up by a bit. The crowd laughed in the background, making Athelas scoff.

"You did what I told you not to do, didn't you?" Rose huffed as she crossed her arms. Athelas gave a nonchalant shrug and reeled her horse back a few feet again. Stranger grunted and shook his head behind the duo, his hands fumbling with his horse's mane.

"You know…" Marx began once more, "I met with a Biospark once. She was a fine ninja, she was," and he wiggled his eyebrows to make the crowd laugh. "But then I asked her for her name. She said she was called Bio, and then I was like '_Bio what?' _and she answered: '_Bio let!'"_

And a small rim shot was heard from the shadows and the viewers laughed out of pity for the poor clown, who furrowed his brows in annoyance.

"Uh, you get it… Bio let…? As in, purple violet. _Huh_, am I right?"

_Tha-thunk, pling!_

Rose slapped her forehead as Charge Knight cocked his head to the side. Athelas raised an eyebrow and her horse whinnied in distaste while Stranger just breathed in deeply and kept waiting orders.

"You call yourself a clown?" the female Wanderer murmured under her breath. Marx narrowed his eyes and shot in her direction, screeching to a halt when their faces were inches apart. Stranger quickly reacted and hauled his stallion closer to the hooded mistress and the mad clown. But Athelas merely scowled and shoved the jester away. Rose scoffed and banged her staff against the floor, making the chattering crowd die down and fall to silence.

"And that… ladies, gentlemen, and things in between… was our clown, Marx the Mad," Savage announced with a fake smile sliding onto her lips. The people in the stands clapped and stood up from their seats, yelling the names of the Wanderers as they waved at them. Both archers simply smiled and nodded at the audience, yanking their horses back to the shadows of the tent.

Charge Knight followed them both with his gaze and heaved a sigh, his gun sliding back in its case under the knight's torn cape. He then observed how a band of Waddle Dees exited with Marx wrapped around a straightjacket. Lastly, his eyes rested on his mistress who was scanning the crowd with her fingers drumming pensively against her staff. Once Marx had left the building, Rose banged her staff to call for silence.

"Next, my dear spectators, is the wonderful Meta Knight and his assistant Fumu!"

* * *

"Marx crossed the line," Athelas said back in her trailer, as Stranger wrapped a bandage around her wound. The duo was sitting on the dining table, each with a coffee in hand. In just fifteen minutes Meta Knight and Fumu would perform. Let's just hope it's better than Marx's act…

**The end [for this chapter]! Special chapter, and not so funny but very hard to write. Please review~  
Never, under any circumstances, _ever_ call Marx purple!**


	6. 5: Magic, Dragons, and Roses

Shoes of metal clanged against dirt as a round figure emerged from the shadows. With his face covered by a scarred mask and his black cape draping over his shoulders, Meta Knight had quite the gruesome appearance. Golden pools full of wisdom and prestige darted across the sea of howling fans, studying the mere thousands of faces with dedication. His silver shoulder pads framed his short form, and a top hat similar to Rose's own sat in the creature's head. In his mitten-clad hands, he held a sort of wand colored ebony with an ivory tip at the end. Behind the frightening mask he wore, his lips veered into a smirk and he then looked over his shoulder to where his helper stood.

She was young, naïve, and shy all the same. Her blond locks fell down in cascades behind her back, practically reaching the floor. Holding back some strands, there was a tattered lily of lilac color, known to be her small addition to the outfit she wore. It was an outfit of two colors, pink and lime, divided by twisty curls and curly twists. She had her gloved hands crossed behind her back, and her emerald eyes were nervously scanning the crowd alongside her mentor. Her face was blurred in makeup and colors, which she found useless for her age. And her ginger feet were shifting nervously as she waited for Meta Knight to move so she could follow his footsteps.

The air was tense with the savage screeches of the fans and the stomping of feet against the bleachers. Both Meta Knight and his helper stood in a corner of the circus tent, not even touching the ring. However, Savage Rose was introducing them in the circus ring along with her dubbed "pet" Charge Knight. Beside her, the two Wanderers sat tranquilly in their horses, waiting for the mistress to finish so they could leave the ring.

"… Meta Knight and his assistant, Fumu!"

And that was their cue, Meta Knight hauled Fumu close, tugging her like a rag doll. The girl tightened her closed eyes out of fear as the knight swung his cape around them both. In a matter of seconds, they stood where Savage Rose once did. Shoving Fumu hastily away— but with delicacy, mind you— Meta Knight gave a bow with closed eyes while Fumu gave a slight curtsy. With both magicians having their gazes lowered, the fans started to cheer and whistle, anxious for the show to start.

Meta Knight slowly opened an amber eye to then open the other and straighten his posture, Fumu following his actions. From the bleachers, you could see the girl had much respect for the masked man, as well as much fear. Meta Knight had fought in war, and was always the one who was considered the wisest. He's lived up to 50,000 years, and had yet to live his life out fully.

In other words, he'll die hard.

A sigh ran off of Meta's lips and the magician crossed his arms slowly behind his back, his eyes fluttering around the spectators. As if by mental contact, the audience's screams began dying down and silence started settling in. Everyone sat back down in their respective places and edged their seats, waiting for the performers to act.

There was silence and the sound of small murmurs coursed the wind.

Meta Knight cleared his throat, "Thank you," he managed to mumble in his low-toned voice. The audience gave diverse answers, but all referred to a muttered _'my pleasure' _or a '_you're welcome'. _However, Meta Knight lifted his hand and the crowd went dead-silent. The knight chuckled breathlessly, making the maybe-too-close Fumu shudder. His gloved hand fell to his side and the knight gave a mere reverence as a way of thanks.

"_I… am the great Meta Knight_," he started. "_And with my assistant, Fumu_—" he gestured towards the girl, who nodded once as a reply "—_I will help you venture into the world of magic_."

And for the first time that night, the crowd gave small, quiet applause. But maybe it was because Meta Knight already intimidated them…

"Good," he proceeded, with glowing, blue eyes under the visor. His eyes later shifted to Fumu, winking.

"Let's begin!" the blond humanoid said with a forced smile upon her painted lips. But it was then when the crowd viciously shrieked once more. Meta Knight got angry at the beginning, but decided to sigh it off and keep on acting. The navy knight twirled the wand in his fingers and threw it in the air, later catching it with the other hand. As he caught it, he thumped the wand against his charcoal-colored metal shoe twice and later swung the wand in Fumu's direction. The girl stared a bit cross-eyed as the wand transformed into a single black rose, the tips of the petals dyed white. She nervously took it with her lips twitching into a smile, and repeated the process Meta Knight had done.

She tapped her orange slipper twice with the thorny stem, and raised it to view. As she swerved the rose towards Meta Knight, the rose transformed back into a wand, and the crowd gave a resounding gasp of awe at the trick. Meta Knight nodded and took the wand in his warm gloves, bowing at the sound of a fanfare from the orchestra. Hands, paws, and claws reached for claps of praise, already the show had started and everyone was excited.

Now with the wand in hand, Meta Knight preceded to a small barrel colored red and yellow, divided by zigzags. Much like a certain penguin's clothing pattern. Fumu followed him like a lovesick pup, her lips forcefully pressed into a thin line as she awaited orders. That first trick had come out quite alright, now she had to make sure the others ended up fairly well. You see, she doesn't dwell very well with magic.

The knight leaped onto the barrel, turning to face the audience. He was a man known for lack of height, and being on top of something made him feel as if there were shorter people in the world. It made him feel better about himself… he smiled and stood even straighter than he already was. Sudden pride filled his being and he began, waving his hand around. In the silence, the audience held their breaths as prickles of golden dust started leaving the ivory tip of the magician's wand. It became a sight to behold.

From the small specks of dust, the silhouette of a dragon formed. The dots glued together to stretch out the silhouette, and Meta Knight stopped waving his wand around, twirling it around his fingers to ensure its place in his hands. A drumroll came from the shadowed orchestra as two, short, front legs emerged from the dragon, later followed by two hind legs as short as the others. As the cymbals clashed, the dragon stretched out its head and held it high, snorting out an amount of foggy breath.

A simultaneous gasp escaped the whole crowd's lips and the dragon stood rigidly still, specks of dust flicking around as the silhouette waited to be controlled. Meta Knight mounted off the barrel and walked around the three-dimensional silhouette, inspecting every inch to make sure it was completely formed. As he circled the majestic, golden shadow, the creature shifted its legs to present its invisible muscles, like a horse would do. The magician, still encircling the magic beast, extended a gloved hand and ran it through its smooth surface, making the creature lower its head in slight relaxation. It had a strong and large back; big enough to mount even humans, and its neck was high like a giraffe's. A pair of horns was placed just below its ears, and a line of spikes ran down the back of his neck, ending at the tail. Its legs were short, yet sturdy, and three claws extended out of each, menacingly thumping on the ground with every shift the dragon made.

Meta Knight stopped walking just as he reached to be in front of the beast, crossing his arms behind his back. Fumu slowly approached her mentor and crossed her arms behind her back also, her eyes getting adjusted to the minor light the dragon produced. The girl released a sigh at the utter silence and refrained herself from sucking her teeth in uncertainty. That thing in front of her looked big enough to swallow the circus whole. When she tried to look at Meta Knight over her shoulders she saw he was thinking something over with green eyes, his left hand idly reaching for his wand, which was somehow hidden behind his cape. When his fingers felt the cold sensation of metal —since the wand was made out of silver— he slowly yanked it out and twirled it around his fingers. Though, if by now you hadn't noticed, Meta Knight liked to twirl the wand between his fingers, so he could make sure it was in his grasp.

The navy puff stretched out his wand-holding arm and flicked his wrist to the right, making the dragon involuntarily lie down in that direction. The creature was so heavy, the ground beneath the bleachers shook and the crowd gave quiet shrieks of both amazement and fear. Now knowing of the creature's weight, Meta Knight jerked his wrist upwards, the dragon soon standing on its four legs once more.

And there was silence…

Full of suspense and anxiety.

Where the crowd was wide-eyed, and fast-pulsed.

And Fumu was starting to doubt the one who had taken her in.

But Meta Knight simply gazed at the dragon and sluggishly tapped his wand against the ground, where it reached when his arm was lying next to him.

…

The Waddle Dees in the shadowed orchestra were beginning to panic, mostly because the conductor had gone suddenly missing and it was their cue. It was part of the show to start a slow violin diminuendo as the dragon began to form. However, that had to be delayed due to the missing conductor. Where exactly could he be? There was a Waddle Dee at the trombone, one at the battery, one at the electric guitar, two with a normal one, eight handled trumpets, three worked with bells and cymbals, twelve handled flutes, and fifteen handled violins. The only that wasn't present was Conductor Dee, who was sought out for his white collar and ebony tie. The scarlet puff was always making sure everyone was present before any performance, but now it seems he's the one who's absent.

Whoa… wait... wait a minute!

Rushing from behind the bleachers, Conductor Dee was running madly, beads of sweat flying off his peachy forehead. Under his arm, a bunch of messy pages coated in notes and letters, and on the other paw, his small stick. He had on a pair of black shoes with two white buttons on the exterior and his trademark collar and tie. He ran right across the ring, dodging a confused Meta Knight, and rapidly ducked into the shadows. In a matter of seconds the violins started to rapidly play. Strings being strum by an artifact, the sounds were almost angelical.

They'd better be… after starting off late!

* * *

_Tap, tap, tap…_

There was a silence, and everyone had their eyes glued on Meta Knight as he repeatedly tapped his wand against the floor.

What exactly was he doing?

Before anyone could think of an answer, a streak of scarlet, peach, white, and black passed by, a frenzy of papers marking its path. In a sudden burst, the violins raced in sound, almost as if they were in glorious joy. Meta Knight let his eyes flicker curiously at the specific spot the streak of colors had disappeared into and suppressed the urge to shake his head in frustration. Hastily, the knight twirled the wand back in place and aimed at the glowing, golden dragon.

The animal fixed its posture to obey orders, its bland eyes locked on the wand. Meta Knight promptly twirled the wand again and swerved it towards the beast. The dragon gave a step back and nodded once, its tail twitching anxiously. The magician started to slowly wave his wand left to right, in a rhythm that was the exact opposite of the frenzied violins. This had its purpose, to indirectly tell the players to slow down the music.

Apparently they didn't get it. However, the dragon caught another idea and stared moving his tail along with the wand's movements.

As the musicians saw the dragon's slow movements, their quickened pace was slowed, and the violins strummed in perfect harmony with the moves. The violins recited a beautiful song and they managed to fit the performers' movements.

So then Meta Knight advanced and waved his wrist in the form of loops. In turn, the dragon started circling Meta Knight, and its heavy footsteps made the ground beneath Meta Knight and Fumu crumble. The scared girl scooted closer to Meta Knight, and the magician absentmindedly pulled her even closer, his eyes locked on the moving silhouette. In the bleachers, the crowd was tensely waiting for something a bit more exciting to happen and in the shadows, Stranger stood with an arrow in his bow, eyeing the luminescent beast warily. The wanderer was silent and the darkness cast upon him, only dim light was perceived and his emerald eyes stood out from under his hood. If you observed closely, his lips were drooping into a frown.

This act is saving the last one. The wise magician knew well what went wrong about twenty minutes, that Marx had lost control and went into an awkward frenzy all around the circus ring. Stranger's brows drew together as he spotted from his place Fumu, practically glued to Meta Knight's side. Her cheeks were a very subtle hint of pink, but the elder didn't seem to notice as he maneuvered the mystic creature, which by now, had quickened its pace and was jogging in circles over Meta Knight. Stranger let his fingers constrict the wooden bow, pressing the arrow into a tighter position. He was so uncertain…

Back at the middle of the ring, Meta Knight was still waving his wand around, and the dragon responded by circling him still. All of a sudden, the navy knight stopped his wand's movements and the dragon obeyed, stopping dead in its tracks with its back to its controller, facing the crowd. In a swift action, Meta Knight twirled his wand and pointed upwards, towards the tall roof of the tent.

And then, under the matter of seconds, the dragon leapt up, and a pair of wings stretched outwards, large and majestic. The violins reached the highest of notes and stopped simultaneously, leaving a sulking silence of awe from the spectators. The dragon's wings were similar to Meta Knight's own, with a claw sprouting from the joint and with thin fabric linking the three, spiky bones. And there it floated, in midair, demonstrating its powerful wings with pride. The beast was so large, that even in midair, its tail snaked through the ground.

Everyone's eyes, including Stranger's, had gotten wide at the sight of such magnificent approach. The silent made everyone feel overwrought and the still dragon in midair was making it even worse. But before anything else would happen, the dragon stretched its wings wider and immediately took flight. Its tail was flailing behind it, and its wings beat with such force, hats and glasses were blown away from the viewers. Immediate cheers and applause erupted as the dragon flew over the encircled bleachers, fanning everyone with its wings. Its neck was held low, so the people could reach up and touch it as it flew by. It felt smooth, like porcelain, yet it was strong.

Fumu was accustomed to seeing creatures like these every day, but today was different. Meta Knight would practice with lions, or horses, or even hawks for that matter. But something as large as a dragon? The blond hadn't expected that! But, it was so beautiful, so tame… yet, untamable. It was a being made of light, of magic and sorcery, of years of experience and practice. It was truly a sight to behold, how that magnificent creature flew over the sea of spectators, letting itself be caressed quickly by the hands of those who reached out. The violins started playing again, this time, slowly. It didn't match the dragon's movements, but it matched the ambiance.

The music was sweet and soft.

The sort of music you'd dance to.

The sort of music that made you sigh in contempt.

And soon, the dragon's circling flights got shorter and shorter. The dragon flew more and more away from the audience, slowly and discreetly. It was like a very thin spiral pattern that ended just atop Meta Knight and Fumu. The golden silhouette stopped right over the two, making a large shadow cast upon them due to the lighting. It was then, when Meta Knight turned to Fumu and took her hand in his. The girl looked taken aback at the gesture and observed with a raised brow how the dragon started to slowly descend. Before the creature got the chance to touch the earthy floor, Meta Knight twirled his wand one last time, and transformed it into a rose. Just like the beginning, a black rose with white tips, and handed to Fumu, who took it with a genuine smile on her lips. She tightened her grasp on the knight's hand and caressed one of the rose's petals, just before the dragon met the ground and dispersed into a sea of golden, luminescent dots while the lights dimmed down and the radiant specks that was once a dragon were the only illumination.

There was a silence…

But the crowd had gone crazy, chanting out their names and whistling like savages. They clapped as hard as they could and cheered 'till no end. Up until now, the circus was going well.

"Ladies and Gentlemen…" Savage Rose's unmistakable voice screamed over the screeches of praise the audience gave. The light faded in slowly, and the two magicians had disappeared, leaving Rose in their place. At the sight of the mistress the cheers went even crazier…

"That was the excellent Meta Knight and his beautiful assistant, Fumu." She announced, her hand fiddling with her top hat while the other drummed against the floral staff of hers.

After the applause and standing ovation, the ringleader continued, "Now, may I present to you, The Indestructible Escargon!"

* * *

**I must say, I'm very sorry for updating this late. I planned to update earlier, but my laptop crashed… I have failed you :( And note that this story will be updated late, like monthly or something… because I seriously take A LOT time while writing this. There wasn't much Athelas in this chapter, Sweey… I just didn't know where to place her. So I put Stranger instead. :) Thanks to all of you who've had to suppress the urge to hunt me down and force me to update ^^;**

**Read my other stories while you're at it!**

**:3 Review~**


	7. 6: Daring Fame

It was rubber. Most people thought it was made out of leather, but it was rubber. It was _white _rubber— mind you— with a nice, little, scarlet stripe trailing down the center. Blue stars dotted a line, two lines exactly, following that trail of red. And the helmet even matched the outfit! How stylish! At least his courage, manliness, and valor made up for his sparkly clothing… well, that's what _he_ thought!

"Escargon? You're on in five!" the silky voice of Savage Rose announced as the mistress hurried past his trailer. The light lavender snail looked over his shoulder from his reflection in the vanity mirror; tapping his red and white helmet to make sure it fit well and wouldn't slip off.

_This is it! The big debut~_

He jumped off his chair and danced around excitedly, holding a bouquet of roses his dear mother had sent before the show. He was sure she'd see him perform today! Oh, she'll be so proud of his little boy! He'll be the life of the show and everyone will give him a standing ovation, larger than what Meta Knight received. And then maybe, Savage Rose would approach him and reward his _**outstanding**_ performance with a kiss on the cheek. And he'd confess his love for her and they'd ride off into the sunset, leaving Charge Knight behind and—

"_**ESCARGON!"**_He jumped when his name resounded against his ears and snapped a turn around. "**WHEN I SAID YOU'RE ON IN FIVE I MEANT 'GET OFF YOUR LAZY ARSE AND RUN LIKE HELL TO THE TENT'!**" Rose yelled at the top of her lungs, a finger pointing at the red and yellow structure. She stood on the open door of the mollusk's trailer, her painted lips pouting at the very feminine scene before her. Somehow perched on her shoulder was Charge Knight, glaring at the so-called "daredevil" with angry eyes, gun tangled already in his fingers.

Escargon quickly threw the bouquet aside and puffed out his chest, straightening out the collar in his ivory/scarlet jumpsuit. A small red streak could be noticeable on his would-be cheeks. He cleared his throat and straightened out his goatee.

"I'm sorry. I got carried away with the excitement, ma'am. But trust me, I'm ready!" He said in a deeper voice than usual, chest still puffed out and lips giving Rose "the smolder". Savage Rose merely raised a brow, crossing her arms and scowling even further. Charge Knight could only pray that the stuntman wouldn't approach Rose too closely. So the puffball jumped off her shoulder and landed expertly on the floor, sliding the gun into its cover. He gestured he'd stay to Rose and casually swayed in step to where Escargon stood, making the snail grow nervous. Rose's eyes met Charge Knight's and he noticed she'd wanted him to stay with her, probably because she was going to tell him something. Her scowl lightened into one of small disappointment and her one-second-lasting sad eyes then shifted to Escargon and turned into a gaze of anxious show business.

"Well, if you're so ready, _get moving_," Rose replied with a sour tone and left the trailer, slamming the door shut. Charge Knight thought he made the wrong decision, but he would talk to Rose about it later. Now, he had to take care about something.

"Uh… well, I- I'm all set if you wanted t- to wait up for me," Escargon stuttered, cold sweat trailing down his stalk of eyes.

"_En fait_, I came to talk to you," Charge Knight answered, sighing deeply.

"E- En… feigh?"

"…_Actually_…" the knight answered with a growl. How he despised those who didn't understand French…

"Oh, well we can walk and talk as we reach the tent," Escargon suggested with a stretched smile. Charge nodded his response and walked to the door, opening it for Escargon to pass.

"Thank you," he said, his eyes closing as they avoided the French knight's pair of deep eyes and his cheeks burning pink. Escargon slithered past Charge Knight, giggling as he went down the small set of stairs in his trailer.

"Hurry if you wish to keep your body free of bullet holes, _escargot_."

"It's Escargon," the snail muttered crossly.

"And in French, snail is pronounced _escargot._ So if I make you uncomfortable talking my native language, you have nothing more to do than to put up with it, _**monsieur**_!" He stressed on the last word, slamming the door at his back. He jumped off the small stairs that led down the trailer and started towards the circus tent, following the marked, gravel path. His hands clenched into fists and his metal-marked footsteps grew heavy, his ivory eyes looking over the edge of the visor to make sure that mangy mollusk had followed him.

"I'm sorry about that; I honestly thought you called me a dish."

"Well think before you speak, it'll save you a lot of trouble in the future."

There was a silence between the two, only the sounds of carnival music and the gravel beneath their feet made noise. Several hasty Waddle Dees slipped by the gap between them as they walked to the tent, but other than that, no one interfered.

"I'm sorry, but you wanted to say something?" Escargon asked, crossing his arms behind his back.

"Hm?" Charge growled, still looking at Escargon from the corner of his visor.

"You told me earlier that you came to talk to me about somethin'…"

"Oh… yes." The knight cleared his throat, "I've been meaning to talk about… Savage Rose."

That's when Escargon, out of plain fear, froze in his tracks and his eyes widened, his pupils shrinking into nervous dots. Charge Knight kept walking ahead, his tattered cape trailing behind like a shadow, but a sly smile stretched upon his lips, which rested under the X-crossed mask, and his eyes seemed to glitter in amusement. But that glitter faded away and his white orbs narrowed angrily in the snap of a second as he noticed the snail become shifty.

"Well…?" Charge Knight asked.

"I… uh… err—"

"—_**There**__ you are!_"

Both men snapped their necks in the direction which the voice came from. There they saw Mystifying Athelas as she bared her teeth angrily and crossed her arms over her chest. Behind her stood Stranger, _very_ close to her back, and in the dim moonlight, they could see a cloud of the tall man's breath as he let out a snort. It faded right into Athelas' cheek, but the woman didn't seem to mind. His eyes shined under his hood and his lips were tightened into a thin line, trying not to veer into a displeased frown. His muscled arms were crossed and between his first two fingers was a very small dagger, glinting as if it mocked the two with its sharp tip.

"Are you to gawk at us instead of performing tonight, stuntman?" Athelas' voice came in clear and her words clung to the air while Escargon mustered up the courage to talk. Stranger grinned wolfishly behind his companion and shifted his feet, tapping the dagger—on the flat surface—against his triceps.

"I—I'm sorry, miss Athelas. It… it won't happen again…" Escargon stuttered, slithering backwards to run away. But before he could speed off, Stranger's voice cut in.

"It definitely _**won't**_ happen again if you don't show up and don't perform."

"…Huh?" The snail raised a brow, his heart pounding against his ribcage, and his hands shaky as they fiddled with his jumpsuit's collar.

Stranger, enjoying the snail's response, continued, "Imagine Rose's reaction, why she'd be _**so**_ frustrated about your failure that she'd fire you…"

Athelas spread a grin on her face. The tent was just a few feet away, and the Wanderers had stopped the snail to merely scold him for his slowness. The snail became a puddle of sweat when he met up with one of the mistresses. Or their disciples for that matter. They were people of high ranks and expectations… and also of high temper…

"I… I gotta go! I'll be late if I keep chatting!" And then the daredevil sprinted into a race. He pushed down his helmet while running to the back of the tent… "The shadows" as the mistresses called it.

He pushed away a red and yellow flap and quickly slithered in, panting and breathless from his race. He wiped the sweat off his brow and turned around to see if he could spot the black-blonde ringleader.

…When he saw the unmistakable silhouette of Mystifying Athelas and let out a shriek of pure horror.

"**AAAAAHHH!**"

"I move in ways you can't even _**think**_of, snail. So best be gettin' ready for the show instead of moochin' Rose's attention," she said with a hint of impatience. Escargon nodded and set to dashing away, not even glancing at Rose as he passed by her.

* * *

Escargon stood at the tip of the ring waiting for the mistress to announce his performance. To his dismay, Rose didn't pass by him. Instead, it was Stranger. He was striding calmly to the center of the ring, lips veering to a small smile at the whistles and shouts from the ladies present in the ring. His cheeks flushed as he stretched out his arms in a welcoming matter.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Escargon the daredevil!" his deep voice bellowed, as a fanfare from the band played in rhythm to the snail's slithering steps..

Escargon slithered into the center of the ring, dismissing Stranger with a scowl. The Wanderer scoffed to himself before walking back to the shadows of the tent, placing himself next to Athelas, waving casually at those who called out to him and forcing a smile on his lips. That Escargon was always a bother when he was full of himself…

Escargon on the other hand was happily waving at his fans with a smile, his helmet glinting under the stage lights. The people cheered and banged their feet against the bleachers as the snail approached a canon that awaited him.

'_Maybe Meta Knight got all the glory, but I get all the fame!'_ Escargon said inwardly, mounting on the cannon and feeling the warmth of the cannon as it began to turn on. Outside, two Dees worked with the cannon to ensure Escargon's safety, and Charge Knight observed from the highest point in the tent, the trapeze post, with his cape wrapped around himself to keep him warm. His ivory eyes narrowed in the cannon's direction, observing with upmost interest how Escargon fit inside that small weapon… His eyes then danced around the crowd, catching sight of all the spectators as they performed a wave. So many species, so many people, so many eyes watching your every move. He looked back at the cannon and cleared his throat in thought.

The idea of the stunt was to fire Escargon out of the cannon and have him land on a mark on the other side of the enormous tent. How the snail was up to it was what made Charge curious. The knight knew the snail was flexible and— he hated to say it— _mushy, _but why did it cause no harm?

Well, maybe you should leave that to the professionals. Back to Escargon, who was starting to sweat under the cannon, one Dee gave the cannon a pat while the other flicked the fire on and matched it to life.

Heels resounded and the crowed welcomed Savage Rose with whistles and screams. But soon the sounds began to fade and die down and still Rose's heeled steps could be heard as the mistress approached the ring's center. With her staff at hand, she extended her arms outwards to salute the crowd before bringing a microphone to her cherry red lips.

"I believe the show's doing good based on your cheers, my people," she said wryly into the mic, her suave voice booming over the tent. Charge let a smirk paint over his lips as he shifted his feet, his eyes glaring at the canon to then shift to Rose's back as she spoke with the audience. The viewers gave Rose a screamed _'yeah´_ as an answer to her question. She giggled into the mic and looked at the canon from over her shoulder.

"In a few minutes, our daring stuntman, Escargon," she breathed into the microphone, tucking her staff under her arm, "will performing his famous Flying Fall of Faith!"

As if on cue, the audience applauded.

Escargon wiped some sweat of his brow and blushed. She called him _daring_!

"Now let's count down!" Rose announced, turning so she could get a view of the canon. She held up her hand to the crowd and began…

"_Ten!_

_Nine!_

_Eight!_

_Seven!_

_Six!_

_Five!" _ That was the Dees' cue to turn on the match.

"_Four!_

_Three" _The match turned on the cannon, the fire began to eat up the cord.

"_Two…_

_One!"_And with the sound of a fanfare, Escargon flew out, passing the crowd in an arch and landing—

w- wait a minute…

he… didn't land…

oh… this looks bad.

Everyone's eyes snapped in the mark's direction to notice that Escargon wasn't standing upon the bull's-eye like practiced.

"This is isn't good," Rose muttered, giving a few steps forward to see if she could spot the snail's form.

"Ladies and gents, there seems to be a little technical prob," Rose announced, her eyes searching frantically for the snail, not even bothering to look at the people in the bleachers. Athelas and Stranger, who were hiding in the shadows, approached Rose as the crowd began to murmur in panic . Rose and Athelas shared a whispered conversation as Stranger approached the mark, trying to find at least a spot of blood…

Charge Knight's eyes widened. Not even from where he stood, did he see where the snail went. And there was no way to disguise Escargon's disappearance as part of the act… the performer must be heard.

A sudden squeak of the trumpets alerted the ringleaders and they found themselves sprinting to where the band under the shadows lied. It was conveniently placed just a few feet away from the mark... maybe Escargon fell there by mistake? Stranger ran after the two women, quickly followed by Charge Knight, who had thrown himself from the post to check on his master.

From the mic in Rose's hand, the people could hear some scuffling and a few murmurs, followed by a nasally voice, which muttered an _'I'm okay…'_

His mother, who was sitting in a reserved seat, was clutching her hat to her chest and was on the edge of her seat, her eyes wide and her mouth agape as she tried to find her son among the cords and lines under the tent's shadows.

There was complete silence. The hundreds of people attending the show remained simultaneously quiet as they awaited the snail in the red and white suit and helmet to pop out of where the ringleaders had disappeared to.

And he did!

He slithered out, carrying his helmet under his arm and blinking at the sudden change of light as all the lights turned off and a single spotlight shined above him.

There was still silence, though.

… until the crowd exploded and everyone rose from their seats, applauding and whistling wildly at the mollusk. Escargon grew proud of himself and let a weary smile stretch his lips, his eyes glossy from the fright and excitement all at the same time. Rose and Athelas emerged from the shadows smiling in relief, followed by Stranger and Charge Knight. Stranger walked to Athelas side, reclining an arm on her shoulder while she crossed her arms, as Rose kneeled to mount Charge Knight on her arm like a hawk. Escargon stuttered in excitement at the still-clapping crowd and clutched his helmet.

'_I __did__ get the fame…!'_

"Well there you have it, folks!" Rose said, chuckling into the microphone. "Our stuntman is safe and sound, though one of our violinists isn't!"

The multitude let out a laugh as Rose thrust her arm and Charge Knight dismounted from it, landing expertly on his feet. Stranger fixed his pose and straightened out his hood as Athelas placed her hands on her hips. Rose and Athelas exchanged a glance and the female Wanderer took the microphone, bringing it to her lips.

"We hope you enjoyed the performance," she voiced, her melodious voice flowing freely. "But now we should welcome Bun, the knife thrower!"

After that, the Wanderer dismissed herself with Stranger following her shadow, nearly stepping on the woman's cowl as they passed through the flap of the tent that served as an exit.

* * *

Escargon waited for his mother, breathing deeply to maintain his nerves. Next to him stood Charge Knight, who temporarily served as the snail's escort until his mother would appear. They were both in the room known as the _**'**__break room', _here the performers would take a break before or after their was a trailer parked just outside the tent, and right now it was empty, except for Charge and Escargon_. _Escargon sat in one of the many satin couches while Charge Knight stood next to him with his arms crossed behind his back.

Escargon jolted as Rose appeared from behind them both. She smiled in Charge's direction and sat down before them on a couch and crossing one leg over the other, her arm reclining on the armrest. Escargon couldn't help but jealous of how Charge Knight sat down next to her, resting his crossed arms over her lap and his head upon his arms. Rose gave another sweet smile and began to pet the puffball's unarmored head.

Escargon was fuming; his face was red in both jealousy and anger. That should be him resting on her lap!

"Something wrong, Escargon?" Rose asked in a playful tone, raising a brow at him as she kept pampering her knight. Charge, in turn, glared at the snail from the corner of his visor, mocking him by nuzzling on Rose's thigh. Escargon blushed, thinking of him in such a position and shook his head no, huffing and looking away. But his eyes snapped back in place when he heard Rose sigh and saw how Charge Knight literally melted at her touch, closing his eyes and blissfully sighing, with his feet sprawled apart and his cape serving as a blanket as his masked head kept resting on the blonde's lap. The puffball reminded the snail of a cat, a very zealous cat.

Rose never lifted her gaze, just kept observing the knight as she stroked his head. Her bangs, styled so they looped around her head, dropped as her head tilted downwards and her lips were somewhat pouting.

Escargon stood quiet. It was always an honor to be around one of the mistresses, they were the only two brave enough to order the troop of talented performers, let alone in front of thousands, probably even royalty. They were both very beautiful and skilled in their own way. Rose was always the one ordering around roughly, implanting the fact that she's the one that intimidates, while Athelas was the silent but deadly one. In a matter of seconds, that hooded woman could kill ten to twenty men, and next to Stranger, she's one of the most respected people around.

If only Escargon could get Rose to treat him the way she treats Charge Knight…

"Oh! There you are, my baby!" Escargon's mother exclaimed, stretching her arms to hug her little boy as she dashed into the room. Escargon was taken aback and awkwardly patted his mother's back blushing as Rose chuckled at the sight of their embrace. Escargon tried to separate himself from his mother's grasp, but she simply tightened her hold on him and he huffed, hugging her back.

"Hello, mother," he answered with a mutter, scowling as Charge Knight rose his head a bit form Rose's lap to watch them.

God he felt so embarrassed…

"You did so good! I got scared at first but then you reappeared and you really _**sold**_ it! The crowd loved it, dear," the mother said as she kissed his cheek and left a lipstick mark. He groaned and tried to whipe it off, but that merely left a red smear on his face.

"Oh, Goony, that's nothing to be ashamed of," the woman said, taking out her handkerchief to clean the boy's cheek off.

"_Mom!_" Escargon whispered, looking at her and then at Rose, who was stifling her laughter next to her knight.

"Oh?" she followed his gaze and smiled sweetly when she met with Rose's presence.

"I didn't know we weren't alone, my apologies, mistress," she said with a giggle, covering her smile with her hand. Escargon rolled his eyes and slithered next to his mother, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't you go take your seat back at the tent, the knife thrower will be out in a couple of minutes while he prepares himself."

"That I'll do! See you later my _daring_ man!"

Escargon blushed once more as he waved good bye at his mother. He scowled when Charge Knight rested his head against Rose's lap once again and brought her hand to his head for her to stroke.

"You're lucky to have someone like her to watch over you, Escargon," Rose commented, her silky voice sending chills through Escargon's spine. Escargon could merely nod and narrow his eyes angrily at the shame he felt.

There was a silence between the three. Rose was busy attending Charge while Escargon took his seat and fumbled with his suit's collar.

"So…" the daredevil bagen, looking at Rose from the top of his head from his drooped head, not daring to meet her eye level. He looked at him and gave a nod for him to continue speaking.

"H- how was my performance…?"

Rose immediately raised a brow and scowled, resting her head on the head that was upon the armrest.

"It was wrong," she flatly answered, her voice not even faltering as she cast him an angry glance.

'_Wrong! Wrong? What did I do wrong?'_ Escargon thought to himself in worry.

"If you ask yourself what you did wrong…" Rose trailed off, tapping Charge's mask with her index finger.

"You missed the mark," Charge answered impassively, scoffing as he placed his hand atop Rose's on the mask. Escargon frowned and a look of disappointment washed over his features.

"I… see…"

"But you did well… just try to land where you're supposed to next time and it'll all go better," Rose explained. Escargon gave a meek nod and jumped off his chair, passing by the two and stopping at the doorframe and looking over his shoulder at Charge, how squirmed out Rose's grasp and jumped off the couch, followed by Rose, who stood up and straightened her blouse and jacket.

Escargon nodded his goodbye and left the trailer heartbroken, his head hung low and his shoulders slumped, "Fame comes with a price, I guess."

* * *

**Somewhat cruel chapter to Escargon XP But hey, win some, lose some! ****Extra-long to make up for the tardiness ^^; ****And yes, I like to pet Charge Knight like a cat :3 Also, yes I somewhat despise Escargon's desperate/obnoxious personality. Lastly, Rose's design changed drastically, check it out (http:/*fav*.me/d4ky0dr) _Take out the *_**

**Review~**


	8. 7: Knives Fly Like Butterflies

Bun waited for Athelas and Stranger to emerge from the tent on the outside. Apparently, Escargon had an accident and was in the break room with Rose while the Dees rolled away the canon into the shadows and cleaned the ring. The young boy— blind due to an accident involving some chemicals— cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting his weight on his feet and keeping an ear out for the two. His bangs covered his eyes and fell over half his face, jagged and shaggy spikes framing his features. A deep scowl was planted upon his lips and the clothes he wore were unkempt, stained, and threadbare. Only a strap covered his freezing chest as it held up his pair of overalls, and his olive green shoes were stained from mud. He let out a sigh and felt the hot air blow back into his face due to the wind.

He heard some steps and heard the tent's fabric ruffle. Suddenly, Athelas emerged from the tent from a flap, holding the flap out for Stranger to pass. The hooded man was so tall he had to scrunch down to pass under Athelas' arm, smiling sweetly at the woman as he let his cowl drape over his shoulders down, coverings his arms from the bitter cold of the night. He seemingly shivered and his breath was a cloud of fog as his head turned to Athelas and he stretched out an arm for her to place herself under. She seemed somewhat taken aback, but she smiled falteringly and scooted closer, letting Stranger wrap his arm over her shoulder, his cowl sheltering them both from the cold.

Bun, however, couldn't see what they were doing, and could only imagine it was the mistress and her disciple due to the shape of their silhouettes on his white vision. Yes, he could only see silhouettes, but in white and depending on the lighting. He almost had the sight of a bat. He saw how Stranger brought Athelas close and then the silhouette of his cowl as it fell newly to the ground, as the man wrapped Athelas with an edge to provide her warmth.

'_Aren't those two cozy?'_ Bun thought to himself, smiling as he uncrossed his arms. He cleared his throat for them to acknowledge his presence and spoke when he felt some eyes on him.

"I'll be entering now, if it's all right with you, Miss Athelas," he spoke almost above a whisper. He saw Athelas' silhouette give a nod before she pulled Stranger towards somewhere. He then took in a deep breath and proceeded to walk carefully into the tent, his hands fumbling with everything to help him know where the cable and tools where to not trip. A sudden, warm, gloved hand grabbed the boy's shoulder, and Bun stopped dead in his tracks to try to guess who it was. The hand was small, firm, warm to the touch, and clad in a mitten. It was male obviously, since it was thick. Maybe it was Meta Knight?

"_Fils, _where are you headed?" asked Charge knight's unmistakable French purr. Bun gulped as he turned to meet the knight's gaze, though he knew he couldn't see him very well. Charge Knight let his hand fall to his side once more and eyed the boy patiently, knowing he could take his time since the lad was blind and was trying to find Charge's place within his vision's range.

"Well, sir…" the boy finally spoke up, "I'm about to perform, I'm headed to the ring. Though I think I was in the right direction… was I?"

"_Oui._"

"Then I guess you came over to give me some assistance," Bun answered with a small smile. Charge Knight couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor child and gave him a nod, knowing well the boy knew how to distinguish those.

"Let us move," Charge said, grasping the boy's wrist with gentleness and leading him to the edge of the ring, dodging the many artifacts that laid about the sandy floor.

Bun then heard the unmistakable sound of Rose's heels as the lady approached them both, making them both give a bow and Charge Knight smiled under his mask. The mistress lowered herself so she could meet Bun's eye level and gave his hair a small stroke, like those she gave to Charge Knight. The boy appreciated the act of kindness with a polite smile and a giggle, his wrist being released by Charge as the knight wrapped his tattered cape around himself.

"You'll be up in a few minutes, kiddo!" Rose whispered enthusiastically, a smile spreading her lips.

"And you'll give the intro, right Charge?" Rose said with a coquettish tone, stretching out her lips to give the knight a little kiss atop his head.

"_C'est ça, mon cher!" _ the Knight said with a sigh, melting like butter when her lips met his head. Rose snickered and gave him a pat before raising herself from the ground and straightening out her clothing. She gave them a dismissal nod and snapped her fingers, her trusty staff appearing out of smoke into her hands. She banged the staff against the ground and proceeded to walk to the center of the ring, her confidence reflected one her pose. As a single spotlight shined on her and the crowd gave their usual reaction, she managed to smile with grace and bring the mic to her lips, reclining against her staff.

She began to warm up the crowd with some words and the like as Stranger and Athelas slipped into the shadows to supervise the performance from afar. Athelas' blue eyes glinted in the dim light and Stranger's green eyes stood out next to hers. They could see Rose's back as she shifted her heeled feet.

"How that woman can run around with those shoes amazes me," Athelas muttered, narrowing her eyes in the ringleader's direction. Stranger gave a grunt of agreement to not say anything he'd regret. He never understood Rose very well. To him, she was a mystery that always seemed to vaguely remind him of a girl he met a bit of some long time ago. The way she walked, the confidence she exerted, even her way with words and how she persuaded everyone to fall into her little tricks…

She was somewhat a lot like Al—

"—Stranger," Athelas whispered, turning to him and eyeing him with curiosity.

"Hmm?" he replied with a warm smile as his face turned to meet hers.

They seemed to be inches apart…

"I never did tell you much about Savage Rose," Athelas whispered, her warm breath reaching Stranger's cheek as he stood behind her like custom, irrelatively close to her back. He tried to hide his blush and step a bit back from Athelas before answering.

"Not really…" he muttered, sighing as his gaze turned to Rose. The woman extended her arms outwards and gave a bow, returning to a different part of the shadows. When she disappeared, Charge Knight quietly dashed to the center of the ring, his cape flowing behind him. When he reached the middle, he wrapped the cape around himself, his ivory orbs appeared to be glaring due to his mask's X-crossed visor and with his French accent he said…

"Please welcome our professional knife thrower, Bun!" The knight extended his right arm outwards and in came Bun, running to where the spotlight indicated, saluting in rand directions and bowing at the crowd in front before turning the bow at the crowd at back. Charge Knight then took a step back and gave one last bow to the crowd before throwing a smoke pellet onto the floor and disappearing.

Bun was left alone, but do not fret, he has practiced what to do many times before. He is indeed a professional!

The young lad trotted over to where a long table laid, many daggers and shuriken lying across it. Each was over a different type of fabric: soft, rough, thick, thin, fuzzy… This had its purpose, to let Bun know which weapon lay upon each cloth.

Pretty clever, eh?

The boy then fiddled with his long bangs before hearing the band of violins play an acute sound, an arpeggio, the cue for the mark to be raised. The violins played and raced and the drums began to beat to the rhythm as the mark that was once used in Escargon's performance was placed in a vertical position. Funny enough, the mark was made of thick crystal, and was transparent in exception of the red circles that marked the bull's-eye. That was so the audience could see the bull's-eye from whichever seat they had.

As the mark stood completely straight, the violins stopped in abrupt, leaving the viewers in suspense and all sense of music paused and the audience based in the mark before the knife thrower, who had tied a red scarf around his already covered eyes to ensure the spectators that no cheating was involved. The people were in awe-struck silence as they observed how Bun gave a salute in Athelas' and Stranger's direction. Stranger raised a confused brow, but was pulled out of the shadows by the collar of his shirt by Athelas. They both reappeared form the shadows and Athelas took out a mic form somewhere behind her cowl. She brought it close and began.

"We'd like to see if any brave fellows would volunteer as Bun's new target," she spoke into the microphone. Stranger once again rose a brow in doubt. There was no way someone in the crowd would risk themselves like that. His eyes scanned the sea of people only to see them murmuring, until Athelas' voice cut off his train of thought.

"Or maybe you guys think Stranger will do a good target, eh?"

"I make a good what?" I replied worriedly taking half a step back.

"A good target," Athelas smirked as she whispered her answer, turning off the mic and signaling Stranger to follow her. She took a hold of his hand and dragged him to the mark, patting the steps that lead to where Stranger would be strapped unto.

"Oh Lord…" he whispered as he passed by Athelas, sighing as he glued his wall to the cold crystal surface. He fought the urge to shiver as Athelas closed some clasps clued to the mark. She took out a scarf and stretched it out, unfolding it. Then she leaned close to Stranger and said to his ear…

"This is for you to hide in, in case anything happens," she tied it around his head so it would cover his eyes, "And also, don't worry… the mark won't rotate and won't break." she added as she gave him a grin and dismounted form the stairs.

Stranger started to get worried and began to shift under the clasps, but found it tiring and let his body sag by gravity's force.

Bun gave a nod to Athelas as she stood next to him over the table. The boy then began to finger the cloth before him… thick, fluffy… this is the dagger. His hand closed around the dagger's hilt and he raised it form the table for the audience to see. The people "ooh-ed" at the sight and clapped quietly waiting for him to throw it. Bun then proceeded to take in his surroundings. There was the crowd— that he could tell— Athelas was next to him with a look of confidence washing over herself and the huge mark was before him, with Strange in the middle. Taking note of Stranger's silhouette, Bun flicked his wrist and the dagger flew, lading with a thud atop Stranger's shoulder, barely missing it. Stranger cringed at the presence of the weapon but remained calm.

The people cheered as Bun felt for the other weapon, this was another dagger. He grasped the hilt and flicked his wrist and this one landed on Stranger's other elbow. Cringing again, Stranger breathed deeply to maintain calm.

About a few daggers later and a dozen shuriken then, there was one last weapon atop Bun's arsenal… a huge mace with protruding spikes so long, they seems otherworldly. The boy reached for the mace's hilt and lifted it high as he could, constricting the weapon. Stranger couldn't see very well under the cloth that covered his eyes, but he knew there was something _**huge**_ waiting for him.

The band began to play some music to add depth and Athelas was actually starting to doubt this… she looked at the weapon from the corner of her eyes and her nails dig on her crossed arms.

Bun threw the mace.

It seemed to move in slow motion.

Flipping and turning slowly yet madly.

Almost like a… butterfly…

As if flapping some sort of spiked wings.

_Clank!_

It hid right above Stranger's head, missing the man by about two feet…

There was a silence as the sound of the mace hitting against the crystal echoed through the tent.

But the crowd _**loved**_ it! They howled like animals and applauded like crazy, chanting Bun's name alongside Stranger's. Athelas rushed to Stranger's side and hurried to release him from the shackles that held him unto the mark. As soon as he got out, she wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed a sigh of relief onto his shoulder. From over Stranger's shoulder, Athelas could see the man's form be outlined in the mark with daggers and shuriken, but her eyes were most intent at the mace. She tightened her grip on him and nuzzled his shoulder, thankful he was safe even though she knew he would somehow be. He smiled, one arm wrapping her figure and bringing her closer while the other took off the cloth that covered his eyes. He rubbed Athelas' back and they broke their embrace. When they did, Stranger handed her the cloth. She took it with a smile and folded it to later place it on her belt. She jumped off the stairs, followed by Stranger and they both waved at the audience, giving a bow alongside Bun. The lights dimmed until everything was pitch black and the performers' silhouettes could be made out in the darkness.

"Ladies and Gents, please remain seated, we wouldn't want any accidents while the lights are off!" said the squeaky yet chirpy voice of a Waddle Dee across the intercom.

The usual murmur across the sea of people was heard. Some seconds passed, then in came some Waddle Dees and they rolled away the mark as the orchestra played a merry tune. Some other Dees rolled the table away and the orchestra kept playing the cheery melody as Stranger and Athelas strode out, accompanied by Bun, who was helped by a Waddle Dee. The crowd kept looking around and could spot Savage Rose's from as she came in with Charge Knight on her arm like a hawk. The merry tune eventually faded into one of soothing violins as the lights faded back in and the mistress came into view, sporting one of her usual charming smiles.

"We hoped you enjoyed our performance, give a hand to Stranger, he was brave enough to let all those weapons graze his hot bod!" Rose said with a wink, one hand on her hip while the other remained stretched for Charge to stand in.

The people started to applaud as Rose nodded to Charge, who nodded back.

"_Tranquille, tranquille_… next up will be none other than the beautiful Silica!" Charge announced emphasizing as he waved his hands around.

* * *

"Well that was a good show," Rose muttered as she passed by Athelas' side, smiling as she saw the female Wanderer tiredly resting her head on Stranger's shoulder. Stranger in turn, had his arms crossed and was reclining against the walls of the outside of the break room. Rose stopped in front of the two to let a few Waddle Dees pass by before approaching them.

"I believe it was, and I almost regret putting Stranger up there, Rose," Athelas answered with a pout, looking up at the caring emerald eyes that looked down upon her. Rose chuckled softly and placed her hands on her hips, cocking them to one side.

"He's safe and sound now," the magician said reassuringly. Stranger's eyes flickered to Rose and gave her a smile. She replied with a wink and then she left, her heeled steps marking her every footfall. Athelas waited for Rose to leave before standing still and pulling her hood down. Stranger turned to look at her and was surprised to find Athelas give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"What… was that for?" he asked timidly.

"For saying yes to the crazy things I put you up to," she answered with honesty, giggling as Stranger brought her close and turned her around so he could hug her from behind.

"It's not easy, but I deem it was worth it," he whispered to Athelas, giving her quick kiss on the cheek before letting her go.

* * *

**What's this? Two chapter's in a row? Crispy you on fiyah, baby!**

**And this chapter is dedicated to Sweey! :3 Love ya, girl! Thanks for all the support and chizz~**

**Rose reminded Stranger of a girl he once met:**

_The way she walked, the confidence she exerted, even her way with words and how she persuaded everyone to fall into her little tricks…_

_She was somewhat a lot like Al—_

**Like who? Leave your guess in the reviews! (Anonymous reviews are welcome :D)**


	9. 8: Flexibility

**Hello! I'd like to link to Silica's performace's music! It's actually considered Circo's theme song!**

**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=6jaVKYZRzUo**

**To keep with the rhythm I kept while writing, click play at the sight of: (***)**

* * *

Stranger watched as Rose exited the break room herself, Charge Knight in tow. Her lips drooped into a frown and she heaved a sigh before fixing her jacket and turning to Charge who gave her a nod. With that, she left the room and went to check over Silica. Charge Knight stood at the steps of the trailer known as the break room and his eyes shifted to his side to get a better look at Stranger's silhouette in the dim moonlight. The Wanderer let out a heavy breath and walked towards the puff of a knight with an uncertain swagger in his steps. He stopped when he reached to be right in front of Charge and crossed his muscled arms over his chest in a heavy manner, scowling at the knight. Charge, in turn, cocked his head to the side, utterly confused as to why the Wanderer seemed to be mad at him.

"_Oui?_" the knight voiced in his purring voice, his tattered cape wrapped tightly around him. Stranger raised an eyebrow and his scowl deepened.

"Why didn't you tell me who she was?" Stranger muttered.

"Pray tell, who is the she you are referring to?" Charge inquired with a lift of his shoulders.

"Rose."

"Rose was Rose. There's nothing else to it," Charge Knight answered rapidly, swiftly turning to the side to follow his master. But Stranger placed himself in the knight's way to ensure he wouldn't leave.

"You answered too quickly for my taste, Charge," the man growled with a tedious tone.

"_Excuse moi? _Too quickly? Should I answer too late, you'd be even _**more**_ irritated than what you already are_._"

"Rose wasn't always Rose. I can see it in her eyes," Stranger muttered, somewhat angry at Charge for having replied to him. Charge was beginning to get irritated as well, heaving a sigh and letting go of his cape so it would fall to the gravel-coated floor. His eyes narrowed in the Wanderer's direction.

"And just how many times have you stared into her eyes long enough to open the doors to her soul, _mon ami_? Hmm? Maybe not enough if you _**claim**_ she was someone else before being herself."

"Long enough to find the eyes of someone else lingering within her own**!** _**Long enough**_," Stranger screamed crossly as an answer, turning on his heel and leaving the knight alone under the lights that so intensely shined around the trailer, the carnival music adding edge to the Wanderer's mood and the bright colors clashing with his dark clothes as he slipped back into the tent and next to Athelas, who was sharing a word with some Waddle Dees before the performance started. Rose stood beside Silica as the white-tinted performer demonstrated some "warming up" tricks. When Stranger entered the tent, his eyes immediately fell to Rose, even though he didn't want them to. It was as if she had called out to him and she didn't know it herself.

He was still mad from before with Charge Knight and his lips still curved into a frown. His eyes narrowed in her direction as she gave Silica praise, smiling sweetly at the acrobat. Athelas caught him staring at her and quickly pulled at the corner of his hood so he'd face her. Her blue eyes were glinting with worry and her brows drew together in confusion. Her lips tried to form words, but they stuttered before she could voice anything out.

"What… who… uh…" she scoffed to herself as she met Stranger's angry gaze, his towering height and deep scowl intimidating her more than she imagined. Stranger's gaze softened at the sight of Athelas' afraid reaction and he gave one step forwards, bringing her closer. Her eyes widened, but they were still afraid.

Because he was still mad.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, her eyes scanning his face for any possible suggestions of a smile.

"Nothing," he whispered back, his warm breath engulfing Athelas in a cloud of fog. She blinked and frowned when she noticed he smiled falsely to get her to stop worrying. She gave a smile too and pushed him away gently with her hands over his chest, turning to meet Rose. Rose had her arms crossed and a grin spread across her lips, waiting for Athelas to pay attention to her.

"The kissing's for later," Rose said with tiresome tone, "right now we have a performance to start!"

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Rose began as she reclined against her staff.

"We present to you, the best acrobat the world's ever seen…" Athelas continued, gesturing to the trapeze post on the right side of the tent. It was then when a spotlight shown over the post, over Silica as she gave a graceful bow to the public.

"Silica!" Rose and Athelas voiced together, soon throwing a smoke pellet and disappearing like custom.

The audience whistled far more than anything else at the very pretty gymnast wearing an ebony suit contrasting over her white skin, and a bow to match tied well on one side of the ponytail she wore. She put one foot forward, on the tip of its toes, a red slipper glittering under the spotlight, before the acrobat extended her hands as salute.

The crowd cheered while the performer took to standing on her hands atop the trapeze pole. She weighed herself with her hands before stepping onto her feet again. She waved at a few spectators before moving a few steps forward, placing a foot over the thick thread that led across the two trapeze posts. She heaved in a breath and stuck out a hand.

The spotlight that shown above her quickly snapped in the direction her hand stuck out to, and shown upon Knuckle Joe as he twirled a sort of staff between his hands. With style and grace, he quickly threw it in Silica's direction, making it land just at the hand she'd held out. The spotlight raced towards Silica as she smiled and secured the staff on her hands. With delicacy, she held it in front of her and both her hands gripped an edge of the tool.

She heaved another sigh and straightened her posture, waiting for one of the ringleaders to announce her actions. It was then when Rose's silky voice boomed through the loudspeakers.

"Spectators and watchers!" There was silence as everyone directed their gazes to the box at the top left corner of the tent. A spotlight clicked open, echoing against the quietness and they could spot Rose's silhouette next to the outline of an old-style microphone, a boom mic. Next to her was the tall and muscular silhouette of Stranger and if you narrowed your eyes ever so slightly, you could see Charge's round head at the corner of the glass.

"Circo de los Sueños is a top-notch, five-star circus attraction! Our performers are professionals and prove to be so by performing without the safety equipment required to perform. Please don't alter our performers and turn off all flashing devices near you, thank you!" Rose's voice said almost mechanically, seeming to have rehearsed this many times before. **(***) **Immediately, music began to play. A beautiful symphony between violins and cymbals and cellos and drums and pianos. The Dees outdid themselves, really!

Silica began walking forwards; the staff helping her keep her balance. She began by walking on the tip of her toes, ensuring her feet didn't slip off the cord. Soon enough the violins raced and she sped up, dashing through the cord. In the snap of a minute, she twirled the staff before placing it under both hands and doing a cartwheel over the cord, making the crowd exclaim in awe. When she landed on her feet again, she ensured the staff within her hands and kept prancing around the cord as the spotlight tailed behind her.

From down on the ground, Knuckle Joe watched was the acrobat performed with a blissful sigh, soon hearing metallic footsteps nearing. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Charge Knight as he advanced to him with his cape wrapped around himself.

"She's doing well, no?" the knight purred in his accent.

"Yeah…" Knuckle Joe replied with a smile, his eyes glazing over as he observed how Silica did a pirouette.

"Hm," Charge chuckled, following the other's gaze.

Then Rose approached them, trailed by Stranger, her voice barely audible under the strong sounds of the orchestra. Charge quickly dashed to her side after noticing Stranger's presence and glared at the Wanderer no-too-friendly. Of course, Stranger returned the thought. And yet, Rose was unaware of the situation at hand…

Or was she?

The clash of cymbals suddenly snapped Rose out of her trance, as she was glaring at the gentlemen beside her from the corner of her eyes. She offered Charge a place in her arm for him to stand, but he shook his head no and simply snuggled against her leg, enjoying how the legging's silky fabric felt against his mask. Knuckle Joe wasn't estranged by a bit, he knew the knight was very judicious of who spent time with _**his**_ Rose and preferred to stand by her side whenever possible. Stranger, however, raised a brow in confusion as he noticed how Rose was unperturbed at the knight's touch, which seemed uncomfortable in the man's view. But Rose had already grown accustomed to Charge's abrupt caresses and shrugged it off.

Seeing as Charge Knight wouldn't budge from his current position and that it'd be awkward for Stranger to crouch down beside him, the Wanderer resorted to sharing a few words with Rose herself. He'd take a chance to ask her what he wanted to know…

_But they were in the middle of a performance_… Stranger stopped himself from making a big mistake and simply walked closer to where Rose stood. Yet, a bad habit he'd gained was that of walking up to Athelas until feeling her back bump into his chest, having him breathing into her cheek. It was his version of Charge's habit of caressing his mistress. So, absentmindedly, Stranger brought his hands to Rose's waist and brought her closer like he'd do to Athelas…

_**Huge**_ _**mistake!**_

A stinging slap ran through the Wander's face as Rose turned to him, face flushed in embarrassment and anger at the same time. She pushed him off and Charge Knight immediately took action in cocking in his gun and tangling it in his fingers, aiming it at the Wanderer. Only a few fans could see what was going on and quickly they shouted out to the ringleader. She, in turn, glared at Stranger and gave him her back, eyes snapping angrily back at Silica. Instantly later, she remembered Charge had aimed at Stranger and she gestured for the knight to heel, her head not even turning to see Stranger behind her. There was a silence between the leaders, their disciples and Knuckle Joe. The music still played in the background and the people was applauding Silica's antics, only a few attending to what was going on between the group of humans below the trapeze posts. The sweet sounds of pianos and violins clashed horridly with the atmosphere down below, but Rose didn't mind. She just heaved heavy breaths and let a scowl form on her lips.

Charge gave a reluctant sigh and put away his gun, turning swiftly on his heel and tapping his lord's shoe to get her attention. But she simply lowered herself and picked the knight up, squishing him between her arms like a plush doll. His feet dangled in the air and his arms rested in her crossed arms as his head and body squirmed over her torso. He quickly repositioned himself to be standing on her shoulder. She never budged, she only let him go so he'd climb next to her shoulder, but her arms were still crossed over her chest.

Stranger tried laying a hand on her other shoulder, but she pushed it away with a dismissing glove, crossing her arms once more. Stranger frowned and stroked the red hand-shaped mark on his cheek once, feeling it sting still. He gave up on trying to find Rose's good side and raised his gaze to the heavens, watching how Silica did a handstand upon the thread.

The music suddenly sped up again and Silica quickly did 7 front handsprings in a row. At that, the crowd went wild! She landed perfectly on her feet and stopped in the middle of the chord to give a bow. The chord sagged with her weight and she let the music fade in the background before letting herself slip. Her feet slid off the thread, but she swiftly caught the chord with her hands, her body dangling in the air almost a two hundred feet in the air! The hand that swayed in the wind held the staff securely and she twirled it in her fingers to ensure its place.

The audience shrieked in despair and some even rose from their seats, but they all sighed in relief when Silica curled herself between the thread, throwing a foot over it and now with half her body holding onto the chord and the other half at gravity's mercy. It was part of the show!

Now she swiftly replaced herself over the thread, doing another cartwheel and having her feet land safely over the chord, stretching out the staff to help her maintain her balance. There were only a few feet left for her to reach the other pole and she took a chance by leaping forward, the violins racing as she twirled in the air and abruptly, the music stopped, as her feet landed against the base of the thin line and a huge thump was heard echoing against the hollow tent. The lights slammed off and a single spotlight shown above Silica as the piano marked her final bow to the crowd. With her head inclined and a smirk sprawled across her face, she heard how the crowd rose from their seats to applaud her performance. Her eyes soared through the multitude, her head not budging from its position.

Then the echo of another spotlight filled the air and everyone turned their gazes to Rose. With an uncharacteristic scowl, she brought a mic to her lips and spoke.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Silica!" she said through gritted teeth, stretching an arm to point at the acrobat atop the trapeze pole. Silica, in turn, rose from her position and took a velvet rope that swayed in the air near her. She took ahold of it and threw herself off the pole, using the rope the swing around it before landing in the sandy floor next to Rose. Rose forced a smile on her lips before the lights turned off and everyone went crazy while applauding the act.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU THINKING?" Athelas raged at Stranger, pushing him off after he had approached her when the show was over. She walked ahead, infuriated, her face red from the anger. Her lips veered into a frown and she let out a small sob, pushing everyone away as she headed to her trailer. The night was beginning to get colder and a soft breeze blew, making her hood stray from her face.

"It's not what you think, it was a mistake! Athelas, _please_!" Stranger ran after her, but Rose's usual sea of Waddle Dees stopped him from reaching her. He'd held out his hand to see if she'd stop, but all she did was keep walking ahead. Mad at himself, Stranger kicked a few Dees away and kept running after Athelas. He reached to touch her forearm, but she stopped dead and turned around, glaring at Stranger.

"What is it you want now?"

Stranger however, kept quiet and but his tongue to not say anything. Athelas looked so hurt…

"I'm sorry… _Please_ forgive me! I… I mistook her for you, I- I don't know how. Alison nearly killed me when I brought her close—"

"Allison…?" Athelas' brow furrowed as she took a step back to turn around and leave.

"Rose! I meant Rose."

"Rose _is _Alison! You know— you _knew!_"

It was then when Rose's voice interrupted their conversation, "Athelas."

Athelas' head snapped in Rose's direction. The magician and ringleader had her trademark coat off, showing a white, long-sleeved shirt under a low-cut scarlet vest. She held her folded coat on her arm and a white glove fiddled with her hair.

"Forgive him, he deserves it… and when you finish, I need to share some words with him," Rose said with a sad smile. Athelas gave a nod and dragged Stranger away, their shadows stretching across the floor as the headlights over them effulged them and took them away from view.

Rose was left there standing with her coat in her hands while Charge made his way towards her.

"_Mon cher_, shall I introduce zee next performer?"

"No… announce the performers are talking a break, call an intermission…"

"As you wish…"

* * *

**Broody chapter is broody. Review with your thoughts! And please pass by my deviantart profile to check out some cool pics of the cast of Circo! **

**crispyxpinky(dot)deviantart(dot)com**


	10. 9: Quite the Intermission

Only murmurs were heard. The show was over. Silica had disappeared alongside Rose, Charge and Stranger. It all happened so fast it began to look like a blur. The audience was impatiently waiting for one of the leaders to come out from behind the flaps of the tent. However, only a disciple appeared. Charge Knight emerged from the shadows, his cape fluttering behind him. His boots clanged against the ground and his pace seemed hasty. He heaved in a heavy amount of breath before speaking.

"Viewers… Spectators of all kind…"

Every head turned to the armored puff in the middle of the ring, a spotlight flashed over him, echoing in the utter silence that quickly dispersed.

"The performers are taking a break to cool down, and our mistresses are preparing for the next half of the performance," he said, his eyes trailing through the immense amount of crowd members. There were so many of so many different races and colors and sizes and beliefs. It was a wonder how they all got here…

The silence was still reigning, and Charge found it difficult to pry his eyes off of the audience.

"Err… that is all."

* * *

"I really don't know what to say, Stranger…" Athelas began placing two fingers on her temple, sensing a headache begin to form.

Stranger opened his mouth to begin a statement when Athelas cut him off.

"I already forgave everything you did. I don't want to hear more about it!" she mumbled, glaring at him from under her hood. Stranger shrank and sighed, directing his gaze towards the floor.

"I'm confused," he said quietly.

"I know," she answered calmly, crossing her arms.

"Then explain."

"Explain what?"

"How did Alison become Rose?"

Athelas heaved in a heavy breath, trying her best to keep her calm. She always knew the time would come when Stranger would ask her that question. She was seething; she didn't want any more of this.

"You care so much about her? Go ask her YOURSELF!" She yelled, turning swiftly around and stomping away. Stranger didn't move behind her this time. Instead, he took a step back before turning to a different direction and leaving to find Rose.

He walked past the circus tent and saw a glimpse of Charge Knight as he ordered the Dees around. He shook his head and kept walking. He looked at his feet, observing how they imprinted on they graveled floor. The stones would crackle under his feet. He passed an arc that read the circus' name in fancy cursive.

He kept walking.

The carnival music was fading away, the spotlights dimmed down from this point forwards. The Dees were away. He passed through what he recalled was Athelas' trailer. He stopped for a minute to look at it. He noticed the dim light of a flame through a window. Then he heard steps. Not sticking around to encounter Athelas once more, he stepped forwards and began walking again. He then passed though Rose's boudoir and never mauled himself to enter. He simply walked by it, despite his instinct telling him Rose's presence was inside. He walked past Marx's decomposing trailer with a scowl plastered onto his face, later passing Silica's flamboyant trailer. He sighed, feeling his anger start to boil. He stomped past Blade's trailer, avoiding the flaming posts set at both sides of her door and kept walking on, leaving behind Sword's trailer, decorated with Torch's painted paw prints.

Stranger stopped for a moment, hesitated, and headed near Sword's trailer, through a narrow entrance between Sword's trailer and Bun's that led to Torch's cage. The ferocious beast was asleep. Its chest was rhythmically pumping up and down with every breath and his head lay upon his front paws. At Stranger's presence, Torch flicked his ear and opened an eye. Seeing that the Wanderer just reclined against the steel bars, the beast nuzzled into his paws and closed his eye, lowering its ears.

Stranger's eyes narrowed and he sighed, watching how his breath became a cloud of fog before him. Memories of his past ran across his mind, and he simply blinked them away, shifting on his feet and observing Torch as he slept. One arm was reclined against the cage, supporting his frame and comforting his head, while his other arm grasped one of the cage's bars.

The only sound heard was the crackling of flames upon two posts at the cages sides and the beast's snores. Stranger stood completely still, letting his thoughts sink.

For a while, he stood silent, until he heard a pair of footsteps approach.

"Stranger, boy," Meta Knight's purring voice called.

Stranger's head turned to the lower knight and nodded. Stranger pushed himself off the cage and lowered to his knees to chat with Meta Knight, while Fumu took to opening Torch's cage in the background. Stranger noticed her enter before she closed the door with a snap of the locks. This jerked the Wolfwrath right awake and the wolf's eyes shifted to where Fumu stood. Fumu in turn, smiled and brought a hand out. The canine pushed his head under Fumu's hand and scooted closer so the girl could pet him.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Meta Knight began, observing how Torch's tail wagged slowly.

Stranger hummed his reply and sat down, crossing his legs and placing an arm on them to rest his head upon.

"This beast… _ferocious_ as they claim it is, he's a puppy at heart," Meta Knight mentioned, his deep rumbling chuckles echoing throughout the place.

"She's so quiet," Stranger noted, narrowing his hidden gaze at Fumu.

Meta Knight nodded at his side and whispered, "She's been through a lot, we can both tell. But she'd rather be quiet about it all. And besides… Despite her young age, she's beautiful…"

Stranger raised a brow at the knight beside him, of course the latter didn't see it, but he felt it nonetheless.

"_Hey_, if you can enamor both ringleaders, let me enamor my apprentice," Meta Knight muttered as a reply.

"_**What?"**_

"Mm-hmm."

Oh, Stranger could just _hear_ the smirk in the masked knight's voice.

"I don't 'enamor'," he emphasized with air quotes, "the ringleaders."

"Oh? I think you do," the knight replied, reclining on the arm that rested against the ground.

"You're senile, it's the old age," Stranger answered with a smirk himself, chuckling as the knight gave him a glare.

"I may be old, but I'm not senile."

"Then?"

"You changed the topic. We were talking about the ringleaders."

Stranger sighed and looked away. He didn't want to talk about this now. But talking with Meta Knight was one of the things that would take him away from all the doubt.

"Do you, by any chance, remember Alison?"

The question seemed kind of sudden for the knight, seeing as he flinched.

"Pardon?" the knight replied hoarsely.

"Alison."

Meta Knight's eyes danced around before landing in Stranger's own. The puff sighed and shifted before speaking, "Yes… you see…"

* * *

Such a fool, that Wanderer. He thinks he can just touch her like that?

_**Never!**_

Not even he, her own _disciple_, had the privilege of laying his hands on her fair skin. And that… that _**brute**_ thinks he can just bring her close.

Well, no.

He's wrong!

He loaded his gun and angrily stuffed it into its cover in his belt. He took a step forward, stumbling as the trailer jerked every which way. In panicked frenzy, Charge Knight got a hold of the thing nearest to him— a nightstand— and slid under the furniture. Soon enough, he heard Rose's resounding heels as she stomped into her boudoir, wiping away the black-tainted tears as her mascara dripped down her cheeks. She sat on her bed and wiped her tears fiercely with the back of her gloves. Charge rushed from under the nightstand and brought her a tissue. She snatched it from him and dug her face into her hands, let out a few chest-rattling sobs. Charge Knight placed his mitten over her back and stroked it, trying to comfort her, but she pushed him away.

"Mon cher, what has happened? Has that Stranger hurt you?" Charge Knight inquired hastily, struggling to reach his mistress.

"Nothing Charge, leave me alone."

"But-!"

"I said leave me _**alone!**_" She threw a nearby pillow at him and he dodged, but she threw another and it hit him square in the face, making him fall on his back.

"LEAVE!"

Scrambling to his feet, Charge Knight dashed to the door and as he reached out to grab it, it opened and showed Stranger with a worried expression painted on his face.

"This is all _your_ fault…" Charge muttered, jumping down the small set of stairs and leaving the scene.

Stranger followed the knight with his gaze before carefully stepping into the trailer. There he saw Rose, standing up from her bed and glaring at him with olive eyes.

"What is it you want, Wanderer?" she spat with despise, taking a step back as Stranger approached her. He got closer, and closer… his heavy footsteps sounded against the boudoir's wooden floor. She gulped and took another step back, fumbling to reach anything that would help her defend herself against Stranger. He kept creeping forwards, his face was deadpan, his breath echoed throughout the silence. Rose's eyes widened, she took another step back and bumped into the bed, falling on it.

"You better stay away!" the magician said, summoning her staff as it appeared in a cloud of scarlet smoke. But before she could grasp it, Stranger rushed to it and held it away from her. Panicking, Rose stretched her hand out to slap Stranger's face. But in a series of blurs and blinding motions, he dropped the staff and held her wrist nearly inches away from his face before she could hurt him. Cringing, she struggled to try and get away from his grasp.

But she couldn't.

Stranger was nearly a head taller than her. He towered over her and she feared he'd hurt her. Not intent on giving up, Rose kept squirming under the Wanderer's grasp until he made her stop by yanking her close.

"I swear, Wanderer, you dare get your hands on me, I will—"

"—Alison, please."

At that, Rose stopped fidgeting and looked at Stranger in the eyes. She narrowed hers and pulled her hand away, as his grip had softened.

"It led you that far…?" she murmured, a sad expression painted on her face.

Stranger only nodded as an answer as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"We… L- let's talk outside," Rose said. And with that, she shakily turned and walked out the trailer's door, soon followed by Stranger. He rushed to keep up her pace and looked down to speak with her. She was fumbling over which words to pick before opening her mouth. But as she did, she closed it and shook her head, smacking her forehead with her hand.

"I just don't know where to start…" she whispered.

"Start by the very beginning… when you were still employed as Meta Knight's apprentice," the Wanderer helped, heaving a slow breath.

"Right. Well… see…"

They began walking. Rose's suave voice began cracking as time kept passing. The girl, once holding her head high and glaring with eyes cold as steel, reduced herself to an uncertain mess, with wavering hands reaching to brush her bangs away as she explained the man her whole situation. He listened, in an unexpressive state nonetheless.

"It all began when I had already gotten accustomed to the military-like style of Meta Knight's. I would wake up at dawn, patrol the castle, turn back to the Halberd to eat breakfast with the crew, and then patrol thoroughly once more. By then, it was noon and Meta Knight would let me be around the castle as Alison instead of Meta Girl. I remember one time, that DeDeDe and Escargon followed me around and caught me sneaking in and out, switching positions and personas…"

She cleared her throat as her voice cracked, her eyes becoming glossy.

"They had taken action quickly. They… ordered a demon beast that would hunt Meta Knight and me instead of Kirby. I remember that Sword and Blade burst through the doors of the library, where I had been with Fumu and the others, and told me about the problem. I was shocked. I _couldn't_ believe them. There was no way DeDeDe was capable of such action…

"… I was wrong….

"DeDeDe received not one… but _two_ WolfWraths. These were new and improved and were specifically designed for hunting. I ran out of the castle. The beasts followed. I fought them… but they won."

She stopped telling her tale for a moment to see how Stranger would react. He was stiff, trying to process the information, and in fact, had stopped walking when she was in the middle of her tale. Her blinked and shook his head in disbelief.

"What do you mean… they won…?" he asked.

She answered with the rest of her story.

"The wolf was more powerful than I was, Stranger. It overthrew me. It hurt me more than anything in my life… physically _and_ mentally. WolfWraths talk telepathically, and this particular WolfWrath kept talking about how it would kill everyone I knew…. I- I just didn't know what to do. I was fatigued, I was hurt—scrapped, battered, whatever it be—but I was hurt. I felt like I couldn't go on anymore. The thing was, they sent the stronger of the two to Meta Knight, who was in the castle. Meta Knight's WolfWrath trailed after Meta Knight throughout the whole castle, the building was in ruins, all the while keeping Meta Knight away from me so I'd fend for myself. It was just luck when in a random set of movements I managed to hit the thing—"

"I was never even _told_ of this, Alison!" Stranger interrupted, panic reaching his voice as he struggled to fit all the pieces together. He, a Wanderer—whose job is to know everything about anything—was completely unaware of the entire situation, and one as grave as that!

"Stranger, when I left your place, you never bothered showing up again…" Rose replied as she closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears away. Stranger's look softened and he hesitated before he brought her close into a hug. She let a few silent tears fall.

"Stranger, the Galaxy Soldier Army _banned_ me from Dreamland…"she whispered, "They took away everything I had. Earth had called me missing, but after all the time I spent away, they stopped searching for me. Becoming someone else was the only left to do…"

Stranger brought a hand to her back and rubbed it softly, as her crying increased she simply let herself sink into Stranger. She felt his strong hand caress the back of her coat and let out a sigh, breaking the sobs to a stop. Tears still fell freely from her eyes, but she was silent.

"I… never knew you went through all that, Alison," Stranger whispered in her ear. She shifted under his and looked at him in the eye.

"That's because I didn't want you to," she whispered back.

It was then when Stranger noticed that he unintentionally got too close to Rose. She seemed to mind, he knew, for she tried to pry herself off him. But he didn't want to let her go. Not after hearing what happened… and not being there for her when she needed it the most.

She sighed, and gently pushed him away, quickly wiping any remains of the tears that once fell. Stranger let out a sigh himself and merely stood there, waiting.

"Now that you know… I want you to stay as far away as possible from me. I don't want to see your face, I don't want to hear you, I don't want to know you're near…" Rose replied in her usual brass manner, walking past Stranger and bumping his shoulder with hers.

"What?" he turned to her with a look of incredulity washing over his face, "after all this, you still remain the same…?"

"Things changed, Stranger. Alison's gone, Rose is here to take her place," the ringleader replied, looking over her shoulder as she kept walking away. Stranger raced next to her and stepped ahead, blocking her path. She looked up at the tall figure before her, a scowl forming on her cherry lips as she crossed her arms behind her back.

"I know things changed. I know things were difficult, but does this really mean you have to avoid me?" he muttered in a low tone, his voice faintly above a whisper. Rose's expression softened and she shifted her arms, even behind her back. She looked downwards, unsure of what to do, and then looked up back at him again.

There was silence.

She offered him a sad smile, which he responded with a scowl. But then, she reacted and gave him one last hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. He returned the embrace and gently rested his head next to hers.

Suddenly, he heard a metallic thump, as he quickly let go of Rose to turn to his side. There was Charge Knight, who had let his pistol fall to the ground. The creature, full to the brim and nearly exploding with jealousy, heatedly snatched his gun from the floor and left, trudging away to Rose's boudoir.

"He's just… confused, is all," Rose mumbled reassuringly, giving the Wanderer's cowl a tug so he'd face her.

When he did, she spoke, "Like I said… . I don't want to see your face, I don't want to hear you, I don't want to know you're near. It'll give me problems with Charge, and he's all I got right now."

Stranger nodded, and left. He didn't turn around, not even once, and headed directly towards Athelas' trailer. Once he reached his quarters, he opened the door to show a tired Athelas. She had been reading a book, her eyes flickering through the words, and when she noticed Stranger's presence; she slammed the book shut and shifted her gaze at him. He took a seat next to her on the dining room table, his eyes catching a sight of freshly-brewed tea inside two cups. He took one as Athelas reached for the other.

"I hope you got your answers," she said.

Out of the shadows, there appeared the unmistakable silhouette of one of the circus' ringleaders. Her cape dragged along the floor as she took quiet steps to the center of the ring, directing all attention.

The female Wanderer cleared her throat before beginning, "Soon coming out… Kirby and DeDeDe!"

And not even minding the wild sounds of applause she disappeared into the shadows, appearing next Rose They nodded simultaneously and left behind the flaps of the tent.

* * *

**This chapter? **_**Meh…**_

**What was Rose talking about? Go check out my story Meta Girl to know what's going on! Oh and don't forget to go pass by Sweey's 'Hawk-eyed and Cross-eyed' fic, featuring Alison and Stranger!**

**Review~**


	11. 10: Two Birrds, One Stone

Emerging from the shadows of the tent, DeDeDe's figure was received by a sea of fans, cheering and clapping along as he rushed to the center of the ring. He waved back to his spectators and smiled as Rose neared the center of the ring as well. Her pretty red lips broke into a smile as she brought a microphone close, introducing the performer.

"People, say hello to DeDeDe… aaannndd Kirby!" She stretched her arm as a gesture and Kirby jumped up from the shadows, skipping next to DeDeDe as the audience cooed and laughed.

Rose nodded her farewell and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the penguin and the puffball alone.

At that, a happy melody erupted from the shadowed orchestra as many Waddle Dees ran around DeDeDe and Kirby, throwing food in their direction and the performers catching it expertly.

Outside the tent, hearing the muted sounds of the orchestra, Rose stood watching the show from a different point of view. She didn't seem too pleased with how the actors were behaving, seeing as before the act started, DeDeDe got into a nasty fight with Kirby. It was such, that even Stranger had to step in and try to separate the two. And to think it all started with a simple raspberry.

"What's going on with these people?" Rose asked herself, closing the tent flap and stepping aside as the Dees ran by her with empty plates of food. She sighed and fixed her hair, slapping on a fake smile before entering the tent again. She waved back to her fans, said a few jokes, and exited the ring, wiping the plastered grin off her face.

Needless to say, Kirby's and DeDeDe's performance didn't go well…

* * *

Inside Mystifying Athelas' trailer, everything was calm and quiet. Only the sounds of subtle footsteps could be heard, rapping against the melodious silence. Stranger was busy in the small kitchen, making mint tea for his mistress and him, while Athelas had her nose buried in a book. Neither spoke a word, but they were comfortable in the silence.

Stranger poured the water into the teapot, the crinkling sounds of the liquid sounding grave, as though it violated their privacy when it sounded. Athelas looked up, smiled to herself and kept reading. While Rose introduced the next act, Knuckle Joe, Athelas decided to retire, having changed into something a bit more comfortable than her long, heavy, hooded cloak. Instead, she wore a pair of jeans, light brown boots, and an everyday hoodie, feeling free from the clothes that are required as a Wanderer. She had her hood down, soft locks of dark blonde hair falling from the hasty bun in her head, kept together by a pair of senbon, while her blue eyes scanned the yellowed pages carefully and thoughtfully.

In due time, the smell of tea engulfed the room, and Stranger kept fidgeting around the kitchen, cleaning up what was already spotless in an attempt to keep busy.

Suddenly they heard a rap on the door. First one, then another, lastly the third— slow as if uncertain. Both Athelas and Stranger snapped their heads at the door, and Athelas shifted on the chair, lowering her feet from the table. She closed the book with delicacy and fixed the stray hairs.

"Come in," she called out, placing the book aside on the table.

The lock clicked and Rose's image could be seen across the door frame. The girl gave a hasty smile before climbing the set of retractable stairs and entering the trailer. She gestured for Charge to follow, and the knight jumped inside, rushing to his lord's side.

"Rose, Charge, what a pleasant surprise!" Mystifying Athelas said, smiling at the two.

Rose was still in her uniform, but she was the one in charge of introducing and ending the shows, so she couldn't change yet. She shifted in her feet, the heels clinking against the wooden floor of the trailer, before she approached Athelas. Charge Knight maneuvered himself and jumped onto her arm, climbing to her shoulder and nuzzling against her cheek. She smiled sadly and addressed Athelas.

"Why of course! We… rather,_ I_…" she gave Charge a gentle push, feeling uncomfortable at the knight's mask's cold metal touch, "Came over to discuss some matters revolving around the circus cast."

Rose seemed to have ignored Stranger's presence, not even glancing at him, but then Stranger didn't mind. He just kept fumbling about in the kitchen. When she heard the sounds of silverware twinkling, she looked over through the corner of her eyes, raising a brow at the ribbon she saw that held something together upon his back. The teapot whistled, Stranger picked it up, and walked towards Athelas, blushing and with a cup of tea in hand.

Rose stifled a laugh as she read what the apron he wore said…

'_Kiss the cook'_

He nervously shuffled around, sitting next to Athelas and stirring the tea to keep his hands busy.

Athelas followed Rose's gaze and chuckled at the sight.

Stranger had also changed into something more causal. He wore a clear-white turtleneck, a pair of jeans, and some sort of loafers. He edged the chair closer and snatched a glance towards Charge Knight, seeing him snuggle Rose's lap. The Wanderer then looked back at Athelas as she sipped her tea.

"Well, even though you can blame Marx's attitude on me…" she hesitated, "I _have _been noticing their behavior."

Rose scoffed and accepted the cup Stranger offered, stroking Charge while answering to Athelas, "Don't be silly, dear. I don't blame anything on you. It's just… I've been watching them a bit closer than usual. I'll list them out to you: First, there's Torch who lashed out at Sword…"

Athelas hummed a yes and motioned for Rose to continue.

"Of course, then there's Marx… and…"

There was an awkward silence as Athelas controlled herself as to not laugh.

"Yeah…" the female Wanderer answered sheepishly, but that was dismissed by Rose.

At all this, Stranger and Charge had no participation whatsoever, for when the ringleaders spoke, they _spoke._ Meaning no one can interrupt them. Stranger turned to look at Charge and heaved a sigh at the cat-like knight. Why on Earth was he so possessive of Alis—Rose!

Rose kept on talking, "I've heard that Meta Knight's been advancing on Fumu. And that poor girl is so _shy_! Whenever he's around her, she melts into butter. I can't have that!"

Then Charge Knight cut in, rising a bit from his position in Rose's lap, "Let's not forget that _disgusting_ excuse of a snail, wanting to run away with Rose."

"Ha! Oh Charge, you make me wonder sometimes…" Athelas muttered, sipping some more tea.

Stranger felt out of place, as though no one noticed his awkwardness except himself. Athelas cast him a glance and he smile briefly, but after that nothing happened. The room went back to silence. Rose was obviously thinking something over, Charge had gotten off her lap and was waiting for his mistress on the ground, Athelas was comfortably sipping tea… and Stranger was there doing nothing.

"What if all we need is a change of scenery?" Rose suddenly blurted, looking up at Athelas.

The other woman looked confused, "what?"

"I mean, think about it. We've been in Ripple Star for a month, first practicing, then advertising, then advertising again, and now performing."

"Don't we stay at least two months in each planet?" Stranger spoke, resting his head on his hand somewhat wearily.

Rose scowled and looked over to Athelas for some sort of help. Of course, Athelas had to go along with Stranger. So Rose lost this one.

"Fine," she said. She crossed her arms and thought some more, occasionally looking down at the expectant Charge Knight on the ground. He blinked twice and a smirk quickly spread over the ringleader's lips. Now she knew how to win the game. She always got what she wanted, not to worry.

"See…" her voice drifted as set the fine cup of chine aside, joining her hands and resting her head atop them, resuming that coy personality of hers.

Athelas and Stranger had their eyes glued to her, waiting for her to go on.

"They say there's a shinobi on Rock Star."

She saw how they simultaneously leaned closer, both intent on what she just said. Her smirk grew, now she knew they were all ears…

_Bingo._

* * *

Knuckle Joe rushed through the flaps of the tent. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and heaved a breath, turning to meet an expectant Athelas. She had a serious look on her face, her hands were crossed over her chest, and naturally, Stranger stood at her side, loyal as always. They had slipped on their formal clothes and were now ready to present Knuckle Joe, him being the last performer of the night.

"Err… reporting for duty!" the small strongman said with a salute.

Athelas seemingly chuckled and jerked her to Stranger. At that, the Wanderer walked past Joe and out of the ring, ignoring everyone until he got to the middle.

"Viewers …" he sighed, waiting for them to calm down, "Spectators, please give a warm welcome to… Knuckle Joe!"

* * *

**Short chapter, but it's because I have something big planned for the next one ;D Don't forget to review!**


	12. 11: The End

Knuckle Joe had rushed into the scene, by now, he was rushing to the ring. He smiled as best as he could as he waved around excitedly. In came Rose, accompanied by Charge, and she stood a few mere feet away from the strongman. Her olive eyes gave the performer a quick scan before they directed themselves towards the crowd. She gave a nervous laugh and brought the mic to her lips.

"Ladies and Gents, say hello to the circus' strongman!" She said, smiling as she gestured to Joe. Joe smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck as the spotlight hit him. Everyone cheered as Rose disappeared and Joe began with his performance.

The band began to play a heavy violin track while Joe ran around the track, high-fiving every fan near. When he finished, he ran back to he middle again and jumped, stretching out his hand to catch a chair some hidden Waddle Dees threw at him. The cymbals clashed as his fingers wrapped around the chair's leg and he held it up. The people clapped, but they weren't that impressed. So they kicked it up a notch. The Waddle Dees threw a bowling ball for Joe to catch. When he did, the cymbals clashed again and the crowd clapped a bit more, this time somewhat amused. But they needed to be fed further.

A drumroll greeted a group of Waddle Dees as they ran in Joe's direction, hauling a canon. There was a ghostly silence, only the sound of the squeaky wheels of the canon were heard, echoing through the empty tent. There was a moment of tension. Rose stood in the shadows of the tent, her nails digging into her crossed arms.

Something just didn't feel right.

She felt someone watching her. She felt that someone's eyes wander from her head to her torso, to her legs, then to race back up at her head, specifically her eyes. She shut them in a frenzy and rapidly opened them up, scolding herself mentally for having strayed from the matter at hand, Joe's performance. But the feeling was so strong!

"Something wrong, Rose?"

The ringleader jumped, giving a small shriek as she turned to meet her friend Athelas, next to Stranger, looking at her worriedly. She clutched her chest and recomposed herself immediately.

"What are you, CRAZY?" she yelled at the female Wanderer, her eyes going back to Joe on the ring. She crossed her arms again, and let out a scoff, calming herself.

Athelas rolled her eyes and did as Rose, turning to look at the performance.

But, even though Rose knew her Wandering friends were there beside her, she still felt someone watching her. However, she dismissed the feeling and concentrated wholly on the task at hand.

The Waddle Dees all picked up the canon, laying it on their small, fragile shoulders. In an instant, of course accompanied by the cheery melody of the circus, they threw the canon in Joe's direction. The strongman, having both the chair and the bowling ball at hand, threw them both in the air, caught the canon and began juggling all three heavy objects as the crowd cheered on. Rose smiled in relief and kept on observing.

The orchestra began to play the typical circus theme as many Waddle Dees ran to the ring, threw a heavy object at Joe's juggling pile, and ran back to the shadows.

And so on, and so on, that at least ten minutes passed and Joe had a chair, a bowling ball, a canon, a table, a crystal ball, a suitcase, one of the bleachers from the circus and even a Waddle Dee! The crowd was as usual, screaming like crazy. Their hands reached for applause as the performance went to an end.

Rose and Athelas exchanged a glance, and they both stepped out to conclude the act while Stranger helped the Waddle Dees clean up.

...

Rose rushed back to her trailer. She needed to redo her makeup, drink water and straighten up all in under three minutes. She swiftly ran across the sea of Waddle Dees running around as well and threw herself to her trailer's door. She dashed to the bathroom at the end of the trailer and ducked in the drawer for her makeup. She snatched the lipstick, the mascara, the blush, everything and began to fix herself. When she finished, she poofed up a bottle of water and ran back to the main tent.

She burst into the shadows, slapping away a stray flap in the process, grabbed Athelas by the arm and yanked her into the middle of the ring.

When they got to the center, they both took a moment to breathe in and simultaneously they raised the microphones to their lips.

"Ladies and Gentlemen… That concludes out performance. We wish you a good night, and tremendous farewell!"

At that, the hidden orchestra sprang from the shadows, all forming a line to march around the ring. Each and every performer came to the ring, and began to dance and bounce around to the music. Even Marx and Torch the Wolfwrath. Stranger came in, riding his blue pinto, and handed Athelas her white mare. The Wanderers smiled at each other and Athelas mounted her horse. Rose looked at the audience and waved for her fans, as Charge came running in. Rose extended her arm and Charge jumped on it, perching himself like a hawk and waving as well.

Everyone was so merry and gleeful. The people in the bleachers stood up and screamed out for them. In a sudden flurry, a sea of camera flashes bathed Rose and Athelas in the middle of the ring. People chanted out their names, they ran down the stairs to shake hands with the ringleaders. What DIDN'T they do?

Needless to say, it was a joyful moment.

The end of their five-star premier performance.

* * *

Back at her trailer, Rose sat on her bed, thinking back on her last conversation with Athelas. Yes, they were going to Rock Star. And yes, they were definitely going to track down the shinobi. But for now… She looked down at Charge. The puff was unmasked, showing a pair of pearly white eyes and a grey-flushed face as his gaze met his mistress'. He was on her lap, yawning and sleepy. She reached out to stroke his head, smiling as her hands felt the smooth, plastic-like skin of the little creature. Charge smiled too and sighed, melting at her touch.

Rose was dressed in a nightgown and some stockings for the night. Now that the show was over, they all needed some rest. Athelas said goodbye and retreated to her trailer, hand-in-hand with Stranger. Rose didn't mind, she was just as happy to be with her little knight.

"Rose?"

Her eyes looked down again to meet Charge's half-closed ones.

"Hmm?"

"I'm sleepy…"

"I get ya, big guy…" she said, smiling sweetly. She lay down on her bed, threw the sheets over them and giggled as Charge placed himself as he usually did, on the empty space of Rose's pillow.

They needed the sleep, for their next performance would be one with… fewer audiences…

* * *

**Uasdfjsdlkjal short chapter, sweet ending.**

**THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL**

**A VERY ACTION-PACKED ONE AT THAT. TO MAKE UP FOR THIS SHET ;A;**


End file.
